For some people, being with their family does not mean that much to them, some wouldn’t care if they even had to go home. Looking at some families that is very understandable, but for my family that is not that case. For me I look to many of my family members and look forward to being able to be with them when ever it is possible.

Stacey and I fought like it was our jobs when we were kids and sometimes till this day we have our little hissy fits. But despite that I look up to her so much. We are kind of the opposite. She is a very out going person so she knows a lot of people and I on the other hand am very shy when it comes to meeting new people and making new friends. We hung out so much in these past few years but this summer I think we came the closest. One thing you probably can’t/won’t say about your sister is that she was your best friend in high school but I can and I’m glad I can too because I know she really is. She went to college this year so I don’t see her a lot but I know she is making friends because whenever I go up to see her just about every person knows who she is. That’s Stacey for ya!

I also look up to Vikki, she is a very smart person and I always wished I was as smart as she is. She is one of those people I know that I can tell her anything and I feel like she wouldn’t judge me. I also know that she has been through a lot because she was only in 8th grade when my parents got divorced so she knew everything that was going on unlike me I had no clue what was happening. I look up to her because she had to go through that and she had to help my mom with Stacey and I so much cause it wasn’t easy to take care of us to when we were so close in age and fought 24/7. I just think that she is such a strong person and I know that no matter what she’s here for me and I just think that that is awesome cause not everybody can have that.

Now for Kevin! He is such a great brother. I wouldn’t trade him for any other brother in the world. The thing about him is that he wouldn’t be the awesome guy if it weren’t for the stuff he had to put up with and the all the stuff my dad put him through. I think that he just didn’t want to be like my dad because my dad would drink and Kevin would have to do chores all the time by his self. So he did not want to be that type of person so in high school he didn’t party as much as some of the other guys because there were things that were more important to him like sports. He is also a pretty funny too. The awesome thing about us four kids is that we can have a whole conversion that only consists of movie quotes; and then we just laugh at Kevin’s funny laugh; it’s a pretty goofy one.
My mom is one of those people that you may say no matter what, keeps rolling with the punches. My mom battled with cancer twice, once when I was 9 months old and again 2 years later. She first found out that she had cancer when she took me to the doctor because I had terrible diaper rashes and none of my other siblings did so that really worried her. The doctor’s thought that maybe my mom had something and that affected me so they drew blood from her and they later found out she had Hodskins Disease which is a type of lymphoma. She had to go through the chemotherapy and having all of the shots she finally got through it both times.

My parent split up when I was in second grade so I do not really have that many memories of my parents being together. But with my mom doing what she did taught me that sometimes you need to think about yourself in certain situations, she wasn’t happy and us kids being in the picture made it hard for her to do what she did. Back then I didn’t know any better but know that what she did was for a reason and not she just being selfish. She showed me that I shouldn’t have to put up with some things, that I don’t deserve to be treated badly by a boy that I deserve better for myself.

Watching my mom as I grew up she did many different things. My mom worked before I was born and after I don’t really remember: obviously. From the time I first remember when my parents were still together she was a constriction worker and also helping out on the farm with my dad. She worked from my uncles construction business, later after she stopped working on the road she starting helping my aunt by helping her manage the business. She was pretty much her assistant I guess you would say. She waitressed/bartended for a while and she also had a waitressing/bartending job in Cedar Rapids. After that she later when back to work but she quit there because someone offered her a job that she later got laid-off from because of the economy. In this time she was going back to school. After a few months she got hired at another place. She didn’t really like that one but she stuck with it and finished school and then she got laid-off again. Now she works at a place in Manchester. She teaches some classes and tries to recruit kids to go to school. Knowing that she did all of this just to help support us kids to make our lives better just shows me how great of a parent she is, she always puts us kids before herself no matter what. I would not trade her for any other mom in the world she is the best.

Even though my family has been through a lot I’m so glad I got to go through it with them cause they are everything to me. There is no one that laughs at my funny movie quotes like they do. So in all I would not trade for any other sisters, any different brother, and any different parents because that’s what makes my family so unique and why I love them so much.