PolkCountyToday.com

Usually around this time of the year, after the new school year starts and the season of football begins, leaves begin to fall and cooler weather approaches, I get the warm fuzzies inside.  This is absolutely my favorite time of the year as it is for many people I know. This is the time of the year, at least for me, that I begin to reflect on my life and my family. I'm not necessarily talking about my children although that time of my life as they were growing up could not have been more special to me. There's never a dull moment when you have a large family with four children and each of them are anywhere from 18 months apart to no more than 28 months apart and the two oldest are boys and the two youngest are girls. No, it wasn't easy when I brought my last newborn home to a 2 year old, and 4 year old and a 6 year old. I was very blessed with great kids, solid family life and being content as a mother. I must say, we all survived those busy years with very few scars and scuffles and they have reached that wonderful age of "adulthood." At the ages of 24, 22, 20, and 18 I will always be mom and support most of the things they do.  I know that it's ok to let them make most of their own choices, live their lives to the fullest, pursue their dreams and be confident, mature, and responsible adults in this crazy little thing called life. Believe it or not that is not where I was going with this. I kind of took a little detour along the way to happy land but my focus is still on family.  What I really want to get at is your family growing up. I was very fortunate to be raised in a large family. I am the youngest of 6 with 4 brothers being the oldest and a sister just 4 1/2 years older than me. My sister and I have always been very close, closer than my brothers and I but we had to stick together. With a large family, there were lot of mouths to feed so needless to say, both of my parents worked and a lot of times it was up to my brothers to watch over my sister and I.  I believe that has a lot to do with the great dads that my brothers turned out to be. They were able to practice parenting skills on us whether they wanted to or not. My sister was the type to always do what she was told, she never caused trouble, came home when she was supposed to, did well in school...... and then there was me! I like to think of that time as a test to my brothers that had daughters. I was no angel growing up but I knew my brothers loved me and would always see to it that I was never hurt or did anything too stupid. The teenage years was a real test.... "you're wearing too much makeup, your pants are too tight, your shorts are too short" and honestly they never really were, they were just being good brothers. As many years have passed, it thrills me that even though we all went on with our own lives, getting married, having our own families, having careers, going through divorces or getting remarried that we are still very close and as time passes we only get closer. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if I or anyone in my family ever needed anything, that my family would always be there and always support each other.  That's the way it should be. We are very fortunate to still have our parents with us. They are both in their 80's and still going strong with little health issues. We do good to see each other here and there throughout the year, talk on the phone, or facebook or email but we do however make sure that we spend every Christmas together. If you are fortunate to have a close family, cherish it, nurture it and if there is something wrong in the relationship, fix it!  Life really is short, and in the end family is all you have. I only hope and pray that my kids will always be there for each other, grow closer as they get older and always have each others back.

 

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