You know when you're young and you start to really think about what you want in your 'perfect guy?' ...well, (WAY back) when I was in my early 20's, of course all of those standard qualities ran through my mind. But for me...I wanted him to be from a big family. Weird, I know. Here's the deal. I am an only child. And as glamorous and wonderful as all of those who aren't think it is, it does have some negatives. I wanted to be an aunt. An aunt to many, many neices and nephews. I wanted my future kids to have a ton of cousins to play with. I wanted the holidays to be full of chaos.
I do not lie when I tell you that on one of our first few dates, I made sure I found out all about the family.
And I literally hit the jackpot. Not only did I find out he had two brothers, but also two sisters. I could have sisters. Younger sisters. It was fabulous. And two weeks later, I invited myself to their house. It was crazy...crazy good. It was loud. People were wrestling. It was perfect.
The next summer, I lived with their entire family for the whole summer. I shared a bedroom with both of his sisters. It was the best summer ever. And to this day, I am thankful. We were just together two weeks ago, and it was awesome. We had a huge family dinner, game night, birthday celebrations, and I spent my Friday night out with his parents and sisters-just me, no TOH (he had been up since 2am, so he and the girls were all asleep by 8pm!) - which I know for a fact is something many of my married friends would never even consider, let alone having a blast doing so.
I have different relationships with each of them and I love them all as if they were with me from the start. I have seen all of them through happy, sad, and monumental moments in their lives and it is exactly what I had always hoped for. Not only did I find an awesome husband with to-kill-for in-laws, but also four siblings who I wouldn't trade for the world (and to add to the fun, they each have spouses/significant others of their own who I love...like I said, jackpot).
Good looks usually pass with time. Humor may lessen over the years. But family, they're not going anywhere. The memories you make with them are the ones that will last. We've made some great ones so far, and we're only getting started.
(almost!) The whole crew...love you guys!
