Soon after my parents parted ways, my mom got into touch with her two best friends, Lina and Jovita. Both of which were of Filipino decent, like my mother (which will be much more relevant later on). Along with my mom's friends, came their children... or my current "siblings", if you must. All, I became very close to. Although we are technically cousins, we all have grown up together. And even now we all still talk, see each other and consider ourselves to be close relatives, at least for the most part. Some have older brothers and sisters that I personally can't really consider relatives of my own, but I've met them all and they were very sweet to me and my actual blood sister.
Me and my sister, Jessica.
I have six sisters and one brother by relativity, and I have one half blood sister. Beverly, Kimberly, Marjory, Randy, Jessica, Mallory, Sheena, and Angelina. All of them are huge chunks of my life and childhood.
I remember the first day I ever met them, out in front of my house. Beverly, Kimberly, Marjory, and Mallory all jumped out Jovita's van, while Randy and Jessica jumped out of Lina's. We all awkwardly waved hi to each other, not really knowing what to say. After we all decided that we were hungry, everyone went inside so the mother's could start cooking dinner. I can't remember clearly who eventually started talking to who, but what I do remember is that all of us were jumping on my bed and on the couches in the living room. Needless to say, we all hastily got punished for jumping on the furniture. But that was the beginning of something wonderful.
After a few months of them stopping by every couple of days, my mom started dropping me off at Lina's house during some afternoons to play with Randy and Jessica. We would spend hours on end playing with Legos, training our pokemon on our Gameboys, eating, and watching Angry Beavers.
Randy would always get so mad if I touched his share of the Legos. But sadly enough, I was always jealous of his pieces. He was so good at building things with those blocks. Ships, airplanes, houses, you name it. I envied how well and easily he could make these amazing things while I was sitting there still struggling to get the heads back on the bodies. Thankfully though, we eventually got tired of them and started spending most of our time watching Titanic and Armageddon as we grew older.
After a few months of them stopping by every couple of days, my mom started dropping me off at Lina's house during some afternoons to play with Randy and Jessica. We would spend hours on end playing with Legos, training our pokemon on our Gameboys, eating, and watching Angry Beavers.
Randy would always get so mad if I touched his share of the Legos. But sadly enough, I was always jealous of his pieces. He was so good at building things with those blocks. Ships, airplanes, houses, you name it. I envied how well and easily he could make these amazing things while I was sitting there still struggling to get the heads back on the bodies. Thankfully though, we eventually got tired of them and started spending most of our time watching Titanic and Armageddon as we grew older.
My brother, Randy at Forbidden Body Art in Portland, OR.
At one point or another, all of these kids have lived with my mom and I in this house. And because of that, we have so many good memories that we look back on. I tried my first cigarette because of Kimberly (thankfully, I didn't actually start smoking until I graduated high school). I found out how quickly a girl can climb out of a tree when she thinks Chucky is on her back because of Marjory. Best of all though, I learned how to make a lot of smarter decisions at an early age because of Beverly.
Don't get me wrong though! Randy and Jessica have both taught me valuable lessons as well, just by being a part of my life. Jessica taught me that love can be found at some of the strangest places, while Randy taught me how to laugh in life's face and to find humor in even the worst of situations.
Today, we've all kind of spread apart, but we still try to keep in contact. Randy lives here at home with my sister, Sheena and I. Jessica is now married and has a child of her own named Malikai. Beverly has two kids and travels between Oregon and Oklahoma through out most of the year. Kimberly lives with her mom and Mallory in Gresham, east of Portland, while Marjory lives in Oklahoma with her dad and her four children. These kids have all made an impact in my life and are a big influences to who I am currently. No matter how far apart we are, I still look at them as my family. It's silly to see how much we've changed and grown out of who we used to be as kids. But even when I look back at those times, we were filled with so much joy. We were filled with smiles.
Don't get me wrong though! Randy and Jessica have both taught me valuable lessons as well, just by being a part of my life. Jessica taught me that love can be found at some of the strangest places, while Randy taught me how to laugh in life's face and to find humor in even the worst of situations.
Today, we've all kind of spread apart, but we still try to keep in contact. Randy lives here at home with my sister, Sheena and I. Jessica is now married and has a child of her own named Malikai. Beverly has two kids and travels between Oregon and Oklahoma through out most of the year. Kimberly lives with her mom and Mallory in Gresham, east of Portland, while Marjory lives in Oklahoma with her dad and her four children. These kids have all made an impact in my life and are a big influences to who I am currently. No matter how far apart we are, I still look at them as my family. It's silly to see how much we've changed and grown out of who we used to be as kids. But even when I look back at those times, we were filled with so much joy. We were filled with smiles.
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