I love my family!!!
So this is how it is:
I have a crazy family. I feel like sometimes I'm trapped in all the insanity going on all around me. There's a range of things from mood disorders to addictions to eating disorders.
Not to mention all the crazy gossip and backstabbing and such.
We're quite quirky. I know that as far as people, we're kinda normal, but I meet people, who have problems of their own, that think that my family is weird. But usually in a good way.
If you've ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding then you should have a good idea of what big families are like. The Greeks don't have a monopoly on big family wackiness. My dad's side of the family is gi-normous. I've got 19 first cousins from his side alone.
Then throw in the first cousins once removed (those would be my dad's cousins), and my second cousins (the children of my dad's cousins) and you get more people than I can count. I can't even remember everyone's name most of the time.
I generally feel like an outsider, because they mostly know each other, but I don't really know a whole lot of the outer ring of people. I hate going to big functions like weddings because people will come say "hi" to me, and I'm frantically trying not to respond with, "and who are you again?". When I was younger (like until the age of about 17) I used to bring books with me and just ignore everyone. But now that's not prudent (I guess it never was, but I didn't really happen to care). I still bring a book in case I get desperate, but I'm better at being sociable. I'm still not comfortable with it though.
So last week, I was at my cousin Emily's engagement party. I knew about 8 people out of 50, and that included my cousin and her finacee. So I stuck with my cousin's wife Monika most of the time. It wasn't so bad, but with nobody there who I really knew, it was hard to have fun. And with more than half the people there over 30, nobody really wanted to dance to the reggae band, except Monika and myself, but two people doesn't constitue a dance party.
Anyway, for some reason we got to the subject of wife beaters. Apparently my dad, and my Aunt Terry and no idea what they were. We had to explain it to them. I'm waiting for the day that my dad walks into a store and asks them where the wife beaters are.
I've noticed in a family of this size, that someone always has a problem with someone else. But our way is to talk about people behind their backs and never confront the person we have a problem with until they find out because someone else opened their mouth about it. It's unbelievable the amount of cattiness that I've seen througout the years, and I know that I don't even know the half of it.
But even so, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I get to be witness to captivating drama without having to be caught up in it. And I know that's just because I live 45 minutes away. I'm glad I do sometimes. And sometimes not. It makes it hard to stay close to your relatives when you don't see them all the time.
But then...
When you do see your relatives all the time, sometimes you want to bash their heads into a wall. Like this past week. I think every single one of my cousins on my mom's side was here at least once. And we were so relieved to see them go at the end. I love them all, and I was glad they came, I really was, I had fun when they were here, but 'too much of a good thing' really does exist.
And so here's the opposite to my dad's huge family. My mom's side of the family is small and very close with each other. Between me and Liz, we probably know what makes each person tick. Liz moreso than me because she's super smooth. People think it's weird that I hang out with my cousins so often, but it's not weird to me. I genuinely like each one of them. But sometimes it does feel weird because the oldest of them is 6 1/2 years younger than me. And I know that people they know think it's weird to hang out with someone so much older. Screw it. Let the good times be had by all.
So yeah. I've got both a big and a small family, and I think I'm fortunate to be able to experience both sides. I should post some wacky stories. But this entry is long enough.
By the way... Did you know the Bible is made out of rolling papers?
You do now. It's coveted information passed on to me from someone of great wisdom and experience, and now I feel a duty also to pass it on.
So there's your fun fact.
I have a crazy family. I feel like sometimes I'm trapped in all the insanity going on all around me. There's a range of things from mood disorders to addictions to eating disorders.
Not to mention all the crazy gossip and backstabbing and such.
We're quite quirky. I know that as far as people, we're kinda normal, but I meet people, who have problems of their own, that think that my family is weird. But usually in a good way.
If you've ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding then you should have a good idea of what big families are like. The Greeks don't have a monopoly on big family wackiness. My dad's side of the family is gi-normous. I've got 19 first cousins from his side alone.
Then throw in the first cousins once removed (those would be my dad's cousins), and my second cousins (the children of my dad's cousins) and you get more people than I can count. I can't even remember everyone's name most of the time.
I generally feel like an outsider, because they mostly know each other, but I don't really know a whole lot of the outer ring of people. I hate going to big functions like weddings because people will come say "hi" to me, and I'm frantically trying not to respond with, "and who are you again?". When I was younger (like until the age of about 17) I used to bring books with me and just ignore everyone. But now that's not prudent (I guess it never was, but I didn't really happen to care). I still bring a book in case I get desperate, but I'm better at being sociable. I'm still not comfortable with it though.
So last week, I was at my cousin Emily's engagement party. I knew about 8 people out of 50, and that included my cousin and her finacee. So I stuck with my cousin's wife Monika most of the time. It wasn't so bad, but with nobody there who I really knew, it was hard to have fun. And with more than half the people there over 30, nobody really wanted to dance to the reggae band, except Monika and myself, but two people doesn't constitue a dance party.
Anyway, for some reason we got to the subject of wife beaters. Apparently my dad, and my Aunt Terry and no idea what they were. We had to explain it to them. I'm waiting for the day that my dad walks into a store and asks them where the wife beaters are.
I've noticed in a family of this size, that someone always has a problem with someone else. But our way is to talk about people behind their backs and never confront the person we have a problem with until they find out because someone else opened their mouth about it. It's unbelievable the amount of cattiness that I've seen througout the years, and I know that I don't even know the half of it.
But even so, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I get to be witness to captivating drama without having to be caught up in it. And I know that's just because I live 45 minutes away. I'm glad I do sometimes. And sometimes not. It makes it hard to stay close to your relatives when you don't see them all the time.
But then...
When you do see your relatives all the time, sometimes you want to bash their heads into a wall. Like this past week. I think every single one of my cousins on my mom's side was here at least once. And we were so relieved to see them go at the end. I love them all, and I was glad they came, I really was, I had fun when they were here, but 'too much of a good thing' really does exist.
And so here's the opposite to my dad's huge family. My mom's side of the family is small and very close with each other. Between me and Liz, we probably know what makes each person tick. Liz moreso than me because she's super smooth. People think it's weird that I hang out with my cousins so often, but it's not weird to me. I genuinely like each one of them. But sometimes it does feel weird because the oldest of them is 6 1/2 years younger than me. And I know that people they know think it's weird to hang out with someone so much older. Screw it. Let the good times be had by all.
So yeah. I've got both a big and a small family, and I think I'm fortunate to be able to experience both sides. I should post some wacky stories. But this entry is long enough.
By the way... Did you know the Bible is made out of rolling papers?
You do now. It's coveted information passed on to me from someone of great wisdom and experience, and now I feel a duty also to pass it on.
So there's your fun fact.