Thankful

After another delicious family feast, I am left feeling the need to write.  Plus, it's been over a month, and I am getting harassed by my followers (ie. ONE follower - my brother) to blog.  So, here I am.  With a full tummy, kind of a heavy heart (I'll explain why later), and a brain full of blog ideas bouncing around, I am lying on the floor with my laptop watching Dancing With The Stars.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  

These family gathering always get me thinking: Where the F*#$ did I come from?  I really wonder.  How do I fit in with this family?  Did I come from the milkman?  Here is a little family tree breakdown as an explanation:

Specimen A: Papa G

Civil Engineer, Masters Degree, Ironman, hard-working, dedicated, non-emotional, introverted, traditional, conservative, kind of a nerd.

Specimen B: Mumma J

Community Health Nurse for ten years, incredible stay-at-home mom, now a coordinator at a Fine Arts school, loving, caring, would do anything for anyone.

Specimen C: Brother D

Typical middle child, smart, but vulgar, sarcastic, a bit of a womanizer, kind of an asshole and absolutely nothing like me.

Specimen D: Brother A

Typical youngest child, the life of the party, hilarious, witty, smart, also a bit of a womanizer, less of an asshole, but still nothing like me. 

{note: both Brother D and A also work at nightclubs, shoot stuff, and eat raw meat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.}

Other dinner guests tonight:

-Steve: family friend, the sweetest, most stylish, delicious man I know.  If only he liked girls.  We'd have adorable babies.  Just sayin'.

-Ellen: childhood friend from Grade 2, incredibly intelligent, beautiful, amazing, one of the best friends a girl could ask for.

-Mark: grew up with the boys, pretty much similar to them, just slightly more PG, less R-rated.

-Xander: another friend of Brother A's, there's still hope for him.  He seems sweet enough, here's hoping the boys don't totally corrupt him before his 21st birthday.

And then there's me, Specimen E.  I'm kind of the odd ball.  Always have been, always will be.  With extreme views about healthcare, with passionate opinions about relationships, with values and convictions strongly rooted in respect and loyalty, I often find myself feeling a little left out in these heated (wine-induced) conversations. 

Quite the recipe for an interesting dinner, wouldn't you say?  Thank God Ellen was there.  At least I had one person in my corner!  

Which brings me to the part about a heavy heart.  The person that I really wanted to be there tonight couldn't make it.  I could have had another person in my corner.  And the one person that matters a lot to me.  Kinda bummed, but I'll get over it.  That's another blog post entirely.  

Anyways, I guess this is my point for this Thanksgiving Monday night:  family is family.  It doesn't matter how big of an asshole Brother D is, he's still my brother.  When it comes right down to it, I know that they would do anything for me.  I know that when shit hits the fan, when things fall apart, or when there is a real problem, we all come together, we all support each other, and there is nothing that we can't get through together.  I guess maybe the sum of our family combined is stronger and greater than its individual parts.  I guess that's just what family is.