I was lucky to have grown up around my extended family -- my dad has three brothers and two sisters -- and when I was younger, we all lived within a 20-minute drive of each other. I was also lucky in that my extended family was very tight-knit and close, something that I'm especially realizing now that I'm off at college and people have moved away from the area I grew up in.
1. You were always around your family
It seemed like in the summer we were at my grandparents' (Mimi and Pop-pop, my dad's parents) house at least once a month, if not more, for some kind of family event. After all, we all lived close and Mimi loved (and still loves) having us all together. She'd take any excuse to invite us over for dinner or a cookout for something, so all the older grand kids (there's an 11-year gap between the youngest grand kid and the next youngest grand kid) grew up together at Mimi and Pop-pop's house on summer days playing in the pool (the red arrow is pointing to very small me).
2. You took vacations together
For several years, Mimi and Pop-pop rented a house in Stone Harbor for two weeks in the summer and we all came down in groups -- my dad's sisters and their kids one week, and then us and one of my dad's brothers with his family the other.
Family vacations were always nice because there were more people to hang out with and it was a time just to be with everyone without all the added stress of being home and having everything to worry about there (unless you're my dad, my uncle or Pop-pop, who left the beach early to go back to work).
3. You don't understand what it's like to not have your family close
I've talked to people whose grandparents and extended family don't live anywhere near them, and I can't imagine growing up like that. It's different now that we're all older and more scattered, but the idea of having to drive hours or fly just to see your grandparents or cousins is still a foreign one to me.
4. You always have someone to talk to
I have nine cousins, ranging in age from 26 to a year and a half, so I can talk to the older ones when I need advice on something, and the younger ones have the same opportunity. I'm especially close to my oldest cousin, Christie, who, unfortunately, lives in Florida now.
Even though Christie's so far away, I can always text or call her, so I still get to talk to her a lot and I know that she's always someone I can reach out to if I need to.
5. Calling up someone to hang out was easy
There have been times when I've called Mimi in the morning when I'm home on break and asked if we could do lunch that day. We go to Panera together a lot, though we'll occasionally go other places, and sometimes we'll bring extra people along.
6. Everyone always knows what's going on in your life
This isn't a bad thing, usually. Your family knows who your friends are because they hear you talk about them or know what you're interested in studying at school or things like that -- you're never strangers to each other. Sometimes this can be a little frustrating (no, I don't know how my friend from high school is doing at college; that's not what we talk about), but it's still nice that they know and care about the events in your life.
7. You wouldn't trade it for anything
Sometimes it can be stressful having such a close family, like when everyone knows what you're doing or if two people have a falling out, but overall, having a tight-knit family is amazing.
