Family Background 101

I was thinking about my family today.

First, I was thinking about my grandma. I was thinking about how she was supposed to have 22 kids. Yes, you read correctly twenty two. I think she was pregnant a total of 20 times. She had 6 kids that survived. (All of my aunts (2) and uncles (4)). She had 11 miscarraiges. She had 4 pregnancies that resulted in still-borns (two of them were sets of twins). Those six babies were buried since they were actually born. With those two sets of twins and my husband's mom being a twin, I was terrified of having twins. Now, I have mixed feelings about twins - it would be great for them to grow up together. It is also double of everything. (But we can't forget, double the good times too).

My dad was born 3 months premature. He weighed 1 pound and 12 ounces. My grandma would tell me the stories on how small he was and how he fit in the palm of her hand. She told me stories on how the doctors never thought he would make it and if he did, he would never be able to function like a normal child would. He would never be able to go to a public school or ride a bike or drive a car. He would probably be handicapped in more than one way. She didn't believe them. She believed that her son would make it through. And she was right, he did!

My dad rode a bike. He went to public school. He actually graduated from college with a business degree about 5 years ago. He doesn't have any major handicaps. He does have very bad eyesight (which filtered down to me) and also has a little bit of a hearing problem, which he could correct with a hearing aid, but is stubborn and doesn't think he needs one.

All of my dad's family is tall. Except for my dad. I am actually taller than my dad. It is kind of funny. I am also taller than my mom. I know that I got my height from my dad's family (not my dad, though).

I have 10 cousins on my dad's side of the family. I am the oldest. The youngest cousin is 5. All my cousins absolutely love Alyssa (she is the first next generation baby - first great grandchild). We always get together at every holiday. It is a very nice time. My one cousin is a really good singer and sings in a band. The girl is 19 years old, goes to college, belongs to a sorority and sings in a band every weekend. She is awesome though. I hope that she fufills all of her dreams. I know she is super talented.

My mom's side isn't so close. A lot of her family live out of state. I imagine we would be a lot closer if they lived closer. But, they just don't like snow. They actually lived here in Ohio and moved away. I guess I can't blame them.

Well, that was a little family background 101 for everyone.