My family is big, loud, dysfunctional, and a little crazy; but they shaped who I am today and I wouldn't have it any other way. My mom is my best friend, my dad is my biggest supporter, my sister is my soul-mate, my aunt is my role model, my cousin is my roommate, and my grandparents are my inspiration.
I honestly have no idea where I would be if I hadn't grown up in this giant close-knit family. In a world where everyone is trying to break you apart or shut you down, I've always been blessed to have someone to build me back up and put me back together.
Sure, everyone is always in your business, and I sometimes wish they would just leave me alone, but in the end they are only in my business because they care about me, they love me and they want to be involved. What I've learned is to embrace the meddling, because usually their opinion is right and I should probably listen!
Because of my family, I've never fought any argument on my own or had to stand alone because I've always had at least 50 people on my side. Although I have this amazing support system, they have also taught me about tough love - they will always tell you when you need to apologize, eat more, look better, or just be a better person in general.
They also taught me that you must have thick skin and learn to roll with the punches. Attempting to plan and have a family dinner is a difficult process, you might not get a word in, and if you do it's screaming at the top of your lungs, because everyone is so loud. The children in this family...all 20 of them have taught me more than I ever could have imagined. They taught me that you don’t have to grow up; it's more fun to be a kid, they taught me about innocence and how to protect that, but most importantly they taught me to follow my passion.
This family has also given me permanent best friends because they aren't allowed not to like me. I always have my cousin to laugh until I cry with at 2 a.m. or my sisters to gossip about life with-- and that's one of my favorite things about them. Having these best friends and their support means that I always have someone to help me make life's really hard decisions like if I should go get Chipotle for dinner, what color to paint my nails, or what I should do with my future. They have also taught me that even if I do make the wrong decision to never fear failure because there's always a web of people there to catch me and send me in the right direction.
Everybody may not get along all the time-- when you have a big, loud-mouthed family people are bound to butt heads but that is okay because at the end of the day we will always have each other. Whether you need a shoulder to cry on, someone to make you laugh, or just a little help along the way someone will always be there with no questions asked.
I guess what I’m trying to say is never take your family for granted, they love you for you and push you to achieve your dreams, what could be better than that?
“We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.”
