The Importance of Family

As some of you may know, I have a plethora of siblings. Eight to be exact. Six sisters and two brothers. As you may also know, life was so much simpler when we were kids and you were able to see your siblings all the time. When my parents got divorced, that last part changed because my older sister and oldest brother ended up living with my dad and my other brother and I lived with my mom. Over the years the lodging changed but it wasn’t consistent. Being that my sister was six years older than me made it difficult to spend time with her. I mean, she was a teenager who did teenage stuff. She didn’t always have time for me but when she did have time we spent it together. I also used to play with my brothers. Being that Blake, the oldest brother, was only three years older than me and Drake was only a year older than me, made it easier for me to hang out with them sometimes. It also helped that I enjoyed playing with their race tracks, electronic football game, and their Evel Knievel action figure. There were times when they even let me play touch football. Well, they let me play touch football until puberty started to hit and then I couldn’t play anymore. My brothers weren’t too keen on their friends accidentally or purposely touching me inappropriately, so I was banned from the game.

About nine years after I was born, my dad had a daughter from his second marriage. Her name is Myesha. Four years after her came Halise. My mom, too, got remarried and ten years after me she had Raven and then three years after that came Robin. Let’s just say that this time in my life was not really the best. I ended up becoming a built-in babysitter which I thoroughly did not appreciate. I suppose it comes with the territory. And lastly, with my mom’s third marriage, came my sister Seneca who is 21 years younger than me. Because of her age, I didn’t really spend that much time with her. In fact, when she was born I was still in college. After I graduated, I lived at home for about a year, waiting for my best friend to graduate and then I moved out.

So, once we all became adults we started living our own lives. We created our own families, worked our own jobs and lived our lives. Then one day we realized that the only time our family gets together is for funerals and holidays. That’s when we see everybody. Cousins from long ago or aunts and uncles show up to pay their respects. People whom I’ve spent quite a bit of my childhood with but not too much of my adult life. At that point, we realized that we had to change. That’s when my sisters and I decided to have a monthly brunch just so we could see each other and spend time together. Four of my sisters live in Georgia, three of which live in the metro Atlanta area. If we didn’t plan these brunches we would never see each other except on holidays. During the planning, we decided to make it a sister/cousin brunch because our cousin Monica lives here too and she’s an only child. She’s two years younger than me. We used to spend the summers together at our grandmother’s house in Cleveland, so it was only fitting that she be included. Also, whenever a cousin comes in town to visit, we try to schedule a brunch to include them as well.

As I get older, I start to consider my mortality. I know I won’t be here forever and I want to spend as much time with my loved ones as I can. The age differences between my sisters and me made it difficult for me to get to know them. To be honest, I really didn’t get to know them until we all were adults. Even though we were already sisters, that’s when we became friends. When we get together we talk about all kinds of things. Some things serious, somethings not so serious. If we have something going on, we talk about it without any judgment. That’s really important. Having no judgment means you can be yourself without fear of anyone attacking you. You can be honest and know that you will get love and support. If you need advice, that’s there as well. I truly look forward to our brunches. What I hate is when everyone can’t make it. I understand that life happens, but it’s still disappointing not being able to see everyone. I genuinely want to see their faces and find out what they’ve been up to. I love hearing about their wins and supporting them through any losses that occur. They are my sisters and I love them all. Unfortunately, I don’t have an image with all of my sisters at once, so here is one from our last brunch at Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours. Allison and Seneca on the right and Monica on the left.

And here’s one with all of the metro Atlanta crew!

My parting words to you are, don’t wait to spend time with your loved ones. If you wait too long it might be too late.