We are family

My eldest sis is here for 10 days. She is 15 years older than me. I am the youngest and there are 3 between us.

We are a weird family. We are scattered all over the place and we love each other a lot but rarely call or write. It is good enough just to know the others are out there.

I like hanging around her and seeing how much she is like me. Good-hearted and funny and a story teller and a hellcat bitch all at the same time. It makes perfect sense to me. Ah, the relaxing feeling of having shared genetic material.

My brother and one other sis are coming by the folks on Thursday, so if I manage to get time off work to get there, it will be four out of five.

My other sis can't travel due to some serious physical limitations. And my parents can't travel to her house in the midwest because, at their age, it is too much for them. So no matter what happens, there will only be four out of five.

It seems horrible that that there will never, ever be another complete family gathering. That already happened, years ago, and at the time there was no way of knowing that it was the last one. It was in a park. We barbecued and burned the beans and took a walk up to the waterfall.

The thought that the seven of us will never spend another day together makes the saddest kind of sad. Like my heart has been pounded on by the meanest hammer. It hurts so damn bad.