We Are Family

My baby brother mentioned in his podcast this week (http://www.diecast-dude.com/ddpod.rss) and in the text version on Goldfish and Clowns (http://blog.goldfishandclowns.com/) a comment I had made at his new NASCAR blog home (http://www.restrictorplatethis.com/) about not letting him "Go Hollywood." Hey what are big sisters for? It was a joking remark in a way but it also had a serious undercurrent to it.

Family is very important to me. I'm not going to claim that everyone in my family always gets along. We do argue like everybody else but one thing that is important is that we are there for each other. Jerry knows I will always be at his back and I know he will be at mine.

One thing we don't need to worry about in our family is anybody getting a swelled head or "going Hollywood." With our ability to puncture over inflated egos with a snappy remark we know better then to even try going that route. I have put up with an enormous amount of "short" jokes in my lifetime. I must say it was very satisfying when I was able to hand one of my brothers a button that said "Aren't you a little short to be a Stormtrooper?" shortly after Star Wars came out.

While we reserve the right to tease the heck out of each other we do not allow other people to go on the attack against one of us. Jerry knows me well enough that if he is having problems with someone on one of his blogs that he knows that I want to get involved and add my two cents worth. It isn't that he can't defend himself because he does a real good job of it. It is that he knows that I too want to help. I expect him to come to my defense here if I get attacked and he does. We are there for each other.

One of the saddest things to see is when there are rifts between family members. My ex is estranged from his entire family. His only child didn't even invite him to his wedding last year. That is sad. One of the biggest strains in my marriage was that I have a strong sense of family and my ex obviously does not. Marriage does not mean that you abandon your family. It means you incorporate each other's families into yours to make a larger extended family.

Family is very important and one day mankind will realize that it is a part of the family of man and start treating their fellow family members with a little more respect.

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