Let me start by saying, I’ve been blessed with a whole army of wonderful relatives. Though some find the big group intimidating, I personally wouldn’t have it any other way. I don't just see my family once every four years. No, sir. I actually, am fortunate enough to see my family pretty often. We find every and any excuse to throw a family party: birthdays, communions, Mother’s day, (we celebrated my cousin’s potty training once…) you say the word and my family will be there.Therefore, for all the only children and cousin-less souls out there, I’d like to share with you what really goes down when you have a big family.
First of all, let’s talk about food. If you’ve got a big family like me chances are your grandma is an expert at making humungous amounts of mashed potatoes and such BUT somehow that does not stop dinner from becoming the 75th annual Hunger Games sometimes. We may be blood related but dang the gloves come off when someone yells “dinner's ready." And let me tell you, may the odds be ever in your favor.
Next, is birthdays. So in reality, we never celebrate just one birthday. Sure, Aunt Sally invited everyone over for Timmy’s birthday but it’s also Johnny’s birthday next week and Mark and God knows who else we forgot. So naturally, we sing to them all. Somehow we never figure out the order of names before we start so it works out like…’happy birthday to Mar—Ti—Joh—Uncle—forget it‘ But hey, it’s the thought and the cake that counts.
You have your first cousins, aunts, uncles, your second cousins but then there are all those relatives that NO ONE knows. Your mom says ‘go say hi to uncle tony’ and you have literally no idea who that is or how you’re related. If this happens to you, don’t panic! Just find them and then listen as they tell you how much you’ve grown and how they haven’t seen you since you were a baby.
Nicknames are second nature. I’ve realized that we have many nicknames for each other. Some of them make no sense while some of them are just the first few letters of the person’s name. Maybe it’s because there are too many people or something but we rarely ever say a person’s full name. (Shout out to Mikey, Horse, Tommy, Bri, Ry, Mitch … and on and on) Somehow we always know what to answer to.
Because this big family loves you to pieces, bringing a significant other into the family can be terrifying. There are a whole lot of people that they have to gain approval from. We recognize that it’s intimidating for outsiders to have to remember so many names, meet so many big, broad older cousins and caring aunts but once you’re accepted, you’re in. And believe me, you want in.
Honestly, I don’t know where I’d be without my big family. I’ve been a part of something bigger than myself since birth and I wouldn’t have it any other way. If you have a big family you know that you have a ton of people that would back you up in a fight, you have a ton of people to go to for help, a ton of people that would take a bullet for you and vice versa. I’d be lost without the many memories I share with my cousins and I’m comforted knowing they’ll be with me at my graduation, at my wedding and wherever life decides to take me.
So what is it really like having a big family? It’s a whole lot of laughs, a lot of love and A TON of people.
