Words to Melt My Heart...And Probably Make You Gag

My mom just told me that when my younger sister asked my eight year old brother who the important people in the world are, he answered "Mom, Dad, and Christie."
How I love that kid!
There are thirteen years between us, so it's a different relationship than what I have with my sisters...I've never had to physically drag him from my bedroom or kick him for listening in on my phone conversations. :)
Have I actually introduced you to my immediate family?? We're meeting tonight for dinner, so I'm thinking about them.
Here ya' go...
My dad is the most wonderful man in the world. He is loving, and giving, and a good listener...he has his moments as all human beings do, but he is always there when I need him. He puts up the blinds in my house, babysits my boys, cooks, lets me borrow books...a regular Renaissance man. By vocation, he is a preacher. Which means I did have some anxious childhood moments of too much moving and still have anxious grown up moments about the actions of church members putting too much stress on him...but what can you do? Pray and send out Secret Service Men (I have my own personal regime) to modify people's behavior.
My relationship with my Mom has been likened unto Lorelei and Rory behavior. By that, I mean that she has always been the person with whom I can laugh and cry and act incredibly silly. She inspires me to be the kind of mother that she has been...fun, inspiring, always loving. I do have issues with the fact that she did not pass down her fantastically natural blonde hair, but I guess I'll just have to get over it and keep up the highlights. My favorite pictures of Mom are when she's about 16, with this long Marcia Brady hair...she should have been a California girl. I love that my mom is not afraid to laugh, and not afraid to be herself. She's good at pretty much whatever she puts her hand to....and she and my dad are still so much in love that I gag at them even now.
Okay. Three to go.
Mandy is my 18 year old sister. That's such a hard thing to grasp. She and I are only four years apart, so we got the height of all the sibling stuff...the bickering, the screaming, the taking each other's stuff. The line down the middle of the room deal....the reading diaries deal...the getting lost when I first started driving deal...essentially, the fun stuff that I fondly recall. Playing barbies passionately...into the wee hours of the morning. Playing outside with our bikes (pretending that they were horses, of course) and lots and lots of laughing. It's so weird that she is grown up now. She drives better than I do, has a boyfriend, and is going to college...she still talks more than anyone I know, and cracks me up with her randomness...
Hannah, for a while, was the baby. We're ten years about...and right now she is going through TWELVE. Which means her emotions are on alert all of the time. But she'll be okay. It's a tough time, to which we can all concur. Hannah is smart and a terrific artist...and the only one to hold onto that aforementioned blonde hair. Lucky. Both Mandy and Hannah are athletic (a gene that skipped me entirely). I love that they get out there and play...Hannah made the middle school volleyball team this year. It's very cool to watch her as she's growing...from this little blonde that ran around imitating us to an almost-teenager who has had boyfriends...it can blow your mind.
Jeremy, like I said, is the baby. And the only boy. That combination is bound for trouble...hopefully not too much. He may be a wee bit spoiled, but he is a sweetheart. All into video games and action figures and ball and all that boy stuff...one of my greatest joys is watching Sinatra chase him around...it makes me sad that I don't get to see him that often. I don't want to turn around and find him all grown up.
There is much more to be said, but I am all out of time. That's my family, in a nutshell. (Hello, cliched term of the day.)
They're mine and I love them. :)