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First, let me say I truly feel as if I have climbed to Mount Olympus. Thanks to the Goddesses for letting me share their air.
Over the past two years, I wrote my first trilogy. It’s set on the Scottish Borders during the turbulent early Tudor era and revolves around the Brunson clan, a family of Border Reivers, or raiders. Each book is about one the romance of one the siblings: the oldest brother, the younger brother, and the younger sister.
But as I sat down to write, I realized I had a problem. I’m an only child. What do I know about brothers and sisters?
But the code of the Borders puts loyalty to family ahead of loyalty to king or country, so even as I wrote a romance, family had to be a key component of the characters. In fact, each character’s journey revolves around his or her relationship to home and family: one character had to leave home, one character had to stay home, and one character had to come home.
In the first book, RETURN OF THE BORDER WARRIOR, the youngest son, John, comes home for the first time in years, intending to enforce the king’s will and then leave forever. As the story opens, he has rejected everything about his family, yet by the end, it is only in returning home that he discovers the man he truly is.
But at the beginning, coming home means being ‘Little Johnnie Blunkit,’ again. The baby brother. The only Brunson with blue eyes. So in addition to his relationship with the heroine, he must also carve out a new role within the family, particularly with his big brother, the clan leader. In fact, they do not become truly at ease with each other until the end of the final book.
And by the time I came to the end of that book, I realized that I had focused on the stories our families tell us. The story may be about great-great-grandfather (“he worked until the day he died”) or about our own role in the family (“you were always the quiet one”). The stories themselves shape us, sometimes more powerfully than the truth.
And that is true whether you are an only child, or one of a dozen.
So I would ask the readers today to think about their own families and their own stories. Were you the Quiet One or the Smart One? Did your family tell stories about a wastrel uncle or cousin? (“He was never any good.”) Or maybe your story came wrapped in a family motto, like “Winners never quit and quitters never win.”
Share your story with us. Did it shape your life in some way? Did you embrace it or reject it?
Two lucky readers who comments on today’s blog will be randomly selected to win a signed copy of RETURN OF THE BORDER WARRIOR.
69 Comments on “The stories our families tell. . .”
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My parents were well educated in a time when few were. The conversations around the diner table were more of an education than school ever was. Our home was full of books & conversation. We grew up with a thirst for knowledge. All this indeed shaped me into who I am. My home is full of books, & while I love to entertained as I read, a little knowledge is always appreciated.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 3:39 am.
The expectations parents set about education are so strong. I think they can affect how well you do in school as much as any in-born talent.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:46 am.
When our family gathers on festive occasions, we almost always end up remembering my grandmother who is soon to turn 87. She has lived through turbulent times and our clan find her life story very interesting. Born on a smallholding in 1920s, sent to work from an early age first as a child minder in her village, then as a shepherd, later as a serving maid to rich landowners; lived through WWII and the Nazi occupation (I’m from Europe as you may have guessed by now) and then experienced the coming of “reds”, worked as a nurse in a war hospital. Married a farmer, was constantly bullied by her mother-in-law and attempted to run away from her husband by taking her little boy with her (a shocking thing to do at those times) but was brought back eventually. Gripping, fascinating stuff. Our generation reads about such things in novels, but she actually lived through them. I find her life an inspiration to me. Whenever I’m faced with trouble I remind myself that I come from a clan of strong women who have withstood even greater adversities. My family and its story gives me strength and roots, defines who I am and what I try to do with my life. Family is everything. Thank you, Blythe, for bringing this topic up.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 4:40 am.
What a story! Our “ancestors” are as much an inspiration to us as they ever were to ancient people, aren’t they? Thanks for sharing her story.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:48 am.
Mine is more a clan than a family, and as the oldest cousin on one side and the oldest female cousin on the other, I became “the responsible one”. I only rebelled once, and the penalty certainly overrode any benefit. Being a quick study, I waited until after graduation to try again.
Stories centered around strength; what the depression took (everything), and how the families on both sides managed to survive. I remember my one Gram telling me how she spent a nickel on the street car to go borrow a quarter. Needs must as the devil drives. But both grams were half Irish, and family was the foundation for them. In unity lay strength. Yes, I could call my sister a dweeb, but you’d best not. Call out one, take on all. They passed that concept on to us, and God willing, we’re sharing the same with our children.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 5:18 am.
That’s exactly the kind of shared story that unites my Brunsons. And each of the three has a prescribed place in the family. At least, at the beginning…
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:49 am.
My father is self-employed, so we learned from a young age to be independent, to take care of ourselves and to help in the household.
Nowadays people still say how mature I am for my age (I’m 23, but everybody thinks I’m about 27 or 28). It’s just the same with my sister. She’s younger than I am, but you can see she more responsible than most of her peers.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 6:10 am.
I think a self-employed parent can be a great inspiration. Not only saying you should be independent, but that it is possible to depend on yourself. Good lesson!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:51 am.
My grandmother on mum’s side was a strong woman. She was a Russian who was born in China during the period of the Bolshevik uprising. As you would know, a number of Russians who were seen to be in some form of power (eg: the police) were being killed so many had to flee. My great grandfather was one of these people so he and his wife went to China with their children and my grandmother was born just before my great grandparents died so Nan Nan was raised in an orphanage during WW1 and she came to Australia as a teen. She gave up every part of her heritage when she came here and embraced living in Australia with a passion. She didn’t have an easy life because she was an alcoholic and my grandfather was an abusive man who most likely beat her on more than one occasion (we know of at least one time and it was pretty bad). Despite all this, she was still a strong woman who called a spade a spade and didn’t take crap from anyone. I wish that I could have gotten to know her but she died when I was still really young. The way that mum tells us stories about Nan Nan makes me think that I would have really liked her as a person not just as my grandmother.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 6:16 am.
Your grandmother’s life story is fascinating! Pity you couldn’t hear it from herself. I am lucky that my granny is still living. While I was growing up, I spent many summers in the country on her farm and I just loved to quiz her about her various experiences. “Tell me about the time you…” So began many of our long evenings. I never tired of hearing those stories.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 7:44 am.
Thanks Susan, my grandmother was a card. When she would laugh she would go “ki! ki! ki!” and the table would shake because she was a big woman and quite often had her bosom sitting on the table when she was at home. She was a touch psychic and wouldn’t take crap from anyone because this one woman kept bullying her and so she decked her. Most of her grandkids called her Gum because she wouldn’t wear her false teeth and quite often sat on my mum when mum annoyed her or if she was feeling affectionate.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:53 am.
I’m just blown away by these stories! What a wonderful heritage you have to be proud of!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:51 am.
Thanks Blythe, I would like to say that I have some of her stubbornness but sadly I don’t.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:55 am.
Congrats, Blythe! I’m so excited about your Border raiders!
I was always the motivated one, which came with both rewards and drawbacks.
Family stories are amazing, aren’t they? And they play such a huge roll in who you become. Ours were varied, but often featured the difficulties conquered by those who came before. We heard hair raising stories from my Grandpap, who lived through D-day and the Battle of the Bulge. I loved hearing stories of the 50s and 60s from my mom and aunts…and now my kids like to hear them all too!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 7:37 am.
Thanks, Deb. That’s one of the joys, isn’t it? Seeing the stories passed on to the next generation…
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:52 am.
I am considered the weird one but in no way do I take that as an insult. My younger brother called me that the other day thinking I would be upset. I told him it was a compliment. I think our family dynamics are amazing not just because there are many of us, aunts and uncles and many many cousins but because my father is Cuban and fought against over throwing Castro in the Sixties during the Bay of Pigs. I don’t know too much of what happened because my father was so traumatized over what happened that he’s never been able to tell us. What I have learned I learned from his sister my aunt. He’s the one who brought everyone over from Cuba except his parents who wouldn’t leave. He never saw them again and I never got to meet them. I plan to take a trip to Cuba someday to see where he came from because it’s an important part of our family history.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 7:48 am.
Your story brought tears to my eyes. Thanks so much for sharing. I’ve wanted to travel to Cuba myself, though I don’t have the strong reason that you do. I hope you have a good trip!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:54 am.
Welcome, Blythe. Thank you for joining us.
I, too, am an only child. But my parents had stories of their families and my dad was an exceptional storyteller. He used to tell me tales at the dinner table. His family was nuts. But he always made the stories interesting and funny.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:22 am.
Like father, like daughter, eh? Sounds as if that’s one place you learned to tell the stories of your own!
Thanks for the welcome.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 8:55 am.
Welcome to Mt. Oly, Blythe. Thanks for coming to TGBs today!
I have three elder siblings and after 6 years the next set of three, of which I am the eldest, were born. So I am a middle child and a elder – interesting childhood! My Father is an only child but my Mother is one of NINE very irish children. This made for some fun holidays. Thanks for the reminder of family.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 9:06 am.
What an interesting mixture! Both for your childhood and of an only and one of nine! Where did your mother fall in the birth order?
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 11:59 am.
I am the oldest child in my family and the oldest grandchild on both sides. My mother would always tell me I had to be the example for my siblings. I am also the quiet one and the one easiest to tease. And believe me, my brothers all tease me mercilessly when we are together. When we are all together, we talk about growing up in the 50′s & 60′s. And it’s funny how we all remember the same things in different ways.
I was very close to my maternal grandmother. Grandma used to tell me stories of her life when she was a girl growing up in the early 20th century. Grandma raised six kids pretty much alone beacuse my grandfather worked nights and slept during the day. He died when my mother was maybe 11. Grandma also had her three brothers, one sister and her own mother living with her. They always had food on the table and a roof over their heads even during the Great Depression.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 9:25 am.
It’s a real burden on the oldest. That’s true of my oldest Brunson, too. And what you say is so true – that the same event can be different for each person who remembers it.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:01 pm.
Welcome Blythe! Your trilogy sounds wonderful.
We grew up with stories of my Grandfather’s struggles coming to Canada from Ireland. My Grandpa left Ireland at the age of 15 along with his older brother who was 16 at the time. They set off for a better life, with little money in their pockets and no one waiting for them here in Canada. It was a struggle at first, they worked odd jobs for money and lodging, but they eventually both landed jobs working for General Motors. My grandpa wasn’t an educated man, but he was proud of that job and the living it provided. He worked there for 50 years before retiring. He would have been 100 this year.
A few years ago, I was researching my Grandpa’s family tree, and realized that his youngest sister was still alive and living in Ireland. I contacted her, and now we write to each other as often as we can. She loves to share stories about the family, and I love hearing them because even though I have never met them, they are still family. I hope one day to meet some of them.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 9:26 am.
Thanks! It’s hard to overstate the courage of those who left home to cross the sea for a new life. The world is full of heroes we seldom acknowledge.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:02 pm.
Welcome Blythe! Your trilogy sounds like something a lot of us here will enjoy–can’t wait!
Personally, I was always the responsible one–the ‘little mama’ because that was what I did. I would kiss boo-boo’s that my nieces and nephews got, play teacher or mommy when I was little, and loved nothing better than becoming a mommy myself, and now a grandmother.
If I didn’t HAVE to work the job that I do to pay bills and support us, I would work in an infant room at a daycare, without a second’s hesistation. I absolutely LOVE being around babies…their sweet smiles and cuddly nature is something I really miss being around on a daily basis.
As far as family stories go, my main one is one that I really wished I’d listened to more closely when I was little. First, my parents were 46 when I was born, and they both were widowed and had grown children from their prior marriages, so I was a surprise.
I remember my mother telling me about her father’s mother, but I never got a name from her. Papa’s mother was a full blood Cherokee, and she left him and his father to return to her people when he was very young…and she WALKED. I don’t have a name, so I can’t trace anything about her. I has taken me YEARS to find the name of Papa’s father on ancestry sites, and I can find nothing of a marriage, so I’m not even sure if they were legally married or if she was a slave/indentured servant or what…they didn’t have a lot of money or land, so I’m really at a loss. Papa didn’t talk about it much because his relationship with his father was always strained. I have the Cherokee along with Irish, English, Welsh and Scottish ancestry–with soldiers in my tree that fought for independence in a lot of wars…I’m an American mutt and proud of it. 
Glad to have you stop by, Blythe! Hope to see you soon!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 10:14 am.
Thanks, Julie. What amazing tales! There’s a reminder for everyone today. Ask now! Listen now! I thought I knew it all about my family, but too late, realized there were things I forgot to ask.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:04 pm.
Welcome to Mt. Oly, Blythe!
A few years ago I did a project for a Sociology class that involved questioning my parents on many aspects of our family. I will say it was both eye opening and entertaining to hear their stories. I heard enough to realize that I come from a family that endured much love, and loss. But through that we have become the strong, hard working, strive for what we want in life sort of group!
Best of luck on your first trilogy!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 10:31 am.
Great opportunity to formally take the time to ask the questions. My mother was once tape recorded for an oral history project. I learned some things from that!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:05 pm.
Welcome!! Isn’t life on the Mt. great?
What a fascinating topic, Blythe! My mother was 1st generation and my father 2nd generation American and it was drilled into me to grab hold of the American Dream and do my part! Upward! Ever upward!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 10:34 am.
Thanks for the welcome. I love it here! Ever upward, indeed.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:07 pm.
I’m an only. I was the smart one and the quiet one. I was also the sick one and the old before her time one and the good one. I spent more time with my grandparents (both sets) than anyone else including my parents. I was kept away from my mom’s cousins who were my age because they were bad influences. I was also considered the weak one in the family. I’m no longer the sick one nor the weak chain. Labels are not good. The stories were about how I would climb anything including stacks of lumber, bookcases that fell over on me.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 10:40 am.
I was a climber too, Sandi, and really got in trouble for some of the mischief I pulled.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:06 pm.
Sandi – the stories can limit us, too. That’s one of the lessons. That we can grow beyond the stories our parents tell. Glad you are well and strong!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:08 pm.
Welcome to the Mount, Blythe! Hope you enjoy your time here.
My stepfather, who is not a nice man, used to call me “Miss Smarty Pants” in a derogatory manner. I don’t know which came first, my making good grades, or making them in retaliation, but that’s what I did. He’s an uneducated man and perhaps I intimidated him. Ours was not the best of relationships. I’ve not seen him in many years, which is just as well. It wasn’t just me. He didn’t treat my brothers any better.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:04 pm.
When you are a child and your parents are your world, their opinion of you IS who you are. It takes great strength and much growth to discover the real you. Congratulations to you and all who have.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:10 pm.
I was the ‘quiet’ one. I think it makes me more shy with that label. Not sure if labels are a good thing especially with potentially ‘bad’ labels….
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 12:23 pm.
May, you are so right that labels can be harmful. Even the “good” ones can be!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 1:45 pm.
Welcome to Mt. Oly, Blythe!
My mom is an only child and didn’t like being an only, which is why I have 6 siblings – 4 sisters and 2 brothers. While I love all my siblings, I feel sorry for my younger brother and baby sister because my mom was tired of being a parent by the time they were 8-10. Five kids would have been the perfect number for her. My dad probably would have been better off having just one or 2 children or none at all. He’s one of 7 or 4 boys, depending on how you look at it. Two brothers died as babies, while another one died when he was 12. I know that those 3 deaths really affected their family because they never talked about it – ever, and my grandparents got mad when my parents started doing genealogy and asking about them. My dad just can’t handle the stress that comes with 7 kids.
As for my place in the family, it’s kind of odd because while I’m the third, I’m, also, the oldest. There’s a 5 and 6 year age gap between me and the 2 oldest. Then, the 5 of us were born in 8 years. I am the responsible, smart,and nonjudgemental one as well as the peacemaker. I know that it drives 2 of my sisters (the oldest one and the one right after me) absolutely crazy because school was hard for them, and they expect me to be as judgemental as they are. It’s not going to happen because it’s just not me. Although, I have noticed over the past few years, I don’t get included in all the family drama because everyone knows that I won’t take sides and will try to work out the problem. It makes me think that there are a few that thrive on the drama that comes with 7 different personalities.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 1:41 pm.
My father was the youngest of seven. Every family is different, isn’t it? Sometimes, the most valuable thing is just to be able to recognize some of the stories and then not let them define you.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 1:48 pm.
My grandmother was one of nine, but my mother was an only child, I am the oldest of three and have two (my sister has two and my brother says he is too selfish to have any – yup, the youngest). My husband is one of nine, has three, and has 15 grandkids.
I find that growing up I loved the individual attention, that I was the spoiled one with my great aunts and uncles, that I was spoiled rotten by my grandparents (who over a few years ended up raising me). I loved the holidays (a big Sicilian family all in one house), birthdays. But as I have married into a family that is just as large if not larger I feel overwhelmed and BROKE.
Between siblings, to godchildren, to the grandkids – I find that each month contains at least three birthdays that there is some obligation. There is more gossip and more drama in larger families and I find that people crave some kind of immediate attention for themselves and compete because the attention is spread out.
I once asked my mother what it was like being an only child – she told me that she was the favorite and the least favorite all at the same time, but she never got away with anything and she had no one to blame it on. I think I am jealous of that. With siblings and large families come extra responsibilty and a dash of extreme expectations – wouldn’t it be nice to have the time to spoil yourself instead.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 2:00 pm.
Now you’ve brought up some disadvantages of large families that I never thought of. I always wanted an older brother – no way for that! – but otherwise, I was pretty happy as an only.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 4:12 pm.
Welcome, Blythe! I’m the oldest of three sisters, and we each definitely have a role in the family. I think I’m the easygoing, funny one. The peacemaker. I hate arguments. *g*
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 2:01 pm.
That’s unusual, isn’t it? I thought the middle child was usually the peacemaker. Shows you birth order doesn’t dictate everything.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 4:15 pm.
Blythe, welcome to Mt. Oly!
I am the youngest of three sisters, the third of four children. I definitely have the middle child syndrome and see the world through that lens.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 2:09 pm.
You and Suzanne ought to talk!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 4:16 pm.
I am the youngest of five, and the “artsy” one who did not obey rules so well. On that latter point I think I go a bum rap, but it became the tag no matter how often I explain that I was not nearly the rebel the family talks about. If only!!
Welcome to our gathering of goddesses, Blythe!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 2:38 pm.
Thanks for the welcome. You’re one of my goddesses, rebel or not!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 4:17 pm.
My family was in the glass business. My great aunt was a treat and would always ‘host’ us kids for several days over every summer at her small lake cottage. She was a school teacher from back in the day when you really didn’t need any college. After WWII, she returned to college and taught until the mid 70′s..
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 2:41 pm.
When you hear about “history” from a family member, it suddenly seems real, doesn’t it?
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 4:18 pm.
Yes, I think it totally does. To me historic events interpreted by kin who have lived through them become very real, very close. They MATTER to me personally because it’s my own blood who have experienced it.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 5:21 pm.
Hi, Blythe! Welcome!
I was the “odd” one in my family because I always wanted to be a writer. Lots of numbers people in my family. All very practical. I did get blamed a bit when my niece wanted to get her degree in Dance. It was thought I’d been a bad influence.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 2:59 pm.
Christie – we writers get blamed for many things that aren’t our fault, don’t we?
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 4:19 pm.
Welcome Blythe! I am the quiet one or our family. My father worked hard all his life and wanted me to learn a good work ethic. The other things that really mattered were faith and music. So I am like my father in that regard.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 5:15 pm.
Ah, there’s another whole part of family stories. Which parent are you like? Sometimes, the answer can surprise you.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 5:38 pm.
I was an only child and born with a hearing problem. I also was the only grandkid with this problem. There were three other grandkids. one was considered a black sheep for law breaking behavior including not finishing high school. This cousin didn’t have any hearing problems anyway. This cousin was kinda favored by my gramma too much. Plus I wasn’t really truly accepted by my gramma due to my hearing problem. I had to work hard involving education to prove myself as a good grandkid to my gramma. I think my college graduation was when she was happiest about me and truly accepted me. anyway I don’t know much about brother and sister relationships either. if i were to write a story about that I would have to use experience from being around people who had brothers and sisters. That including from what I read involving the subject.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 5:43 pm.
You’ve had challenges. Sometimes, we just have to accept that family relationships aren’t going to turn out as we would like. At least in books, I can make it all right.
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:03 am.
I LOVE medieval books!! Yayyy! For so long, with the paranormal craze, medieval books were few and far between.
We had Aunt Estelle in the family. She was 94 when she passed away, but we always heard the stories (and I was lucky enough to hear them first hand!) like how she did not wear a pair of slacks or pants of any kind until she was 67 years old.
There was a sliding board and swing set in the valley between our houses and I played with her grandson there. She’d give us wax paper and let us get the slide all slicked up. She was a little miserly with the wax paper though, only one sheet per day. LOL
Thanks for dropping by!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 6:47 pm.
Always good to meet a medieval lover! Your Aunt Estelle sounds like quite a lady. Really reminds me how things have changed for women in this country.
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:05 am.
The stories my mom told were about helping her grandmother care for her uncle that had Cerebral Palsy and about her aunt that died from a bicyle accident after going over the handlebars.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 9:03 pm.
Sounds as if your family survived some tough, tough times. Hard, but a good legacy.
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:08 am.
I was the Mary Poppins of children! I was practically perfect in EVERY way! Don’t talk to the other two, they’re just jealous subversive dream stealers!
Why without me they would never know the “You’re not the boss!” dance. Would never know that quiet is bad, but singing to cover up what I’m doing is worse. That you should remember to tell the toddler “Don’t drink the beer”, “Don’t put the cat in the refridgerator.”, “Don’t cut your hair before every family picture.”, “Don’t eat the Ex-Lax it isnt’ candy”, “Don’t go down the big hill on your sled face first”, dont….oh hell… who are we kidding.
I got this name fair and square.
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 10:32 pm.
LOL! I can see you created excitement wherever you went!
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:09 am.
Sorry I’m so late to welcome you, Blythe, but we’re glad to have you here! And what a great cover that is, too. Sounds like a wonderful series!
I don’t think there WAS a quiet one in my family. We’re all loud, every one of us. But there was a definite tension between the boys and the girls. The boys were the youngest and my sister and I were the oldest, so we tended to take sides.
It gave me my perspective on family as a wild and wooly thing. I love them all, though!
Posted on November 6, 2012 at 11:50 pm.
Thanks. It IS a great cover, isn’t it? Could it be that the girls were a little bossy at your house?
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:11 am.
I would say I’m “The Youngest One”. The “Baby” of the family. I would also say I’m the “Loner”/”Quiet One”. I really think that I have various roles that can fit me.
As for those “black sheep” in my family, we have them. Some are still alive…and they have their moments. Any “black sheep” moments they had done are told within the family. However, given that said “black sheep” moments may probably not pertain to me, I stay clear of them. Even if the “black sheep” of the family had done some “black sheep” actions, if they don’t harm me, I will ignore them so that I have a “good” relationship with them. And those “black sheep” moments are not too much of a big deal; if said actions are harmful to my immediate family, especially my parents, then I’ll take offense. Otherwise, I’m staying clear of said family drama due to maintaining good relationships with my relatives…but I’ll remember said actions to keep in my mind.
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 12:59 am.
Interesting post. Sometimes, we can really amplify the drama by indulging in it. If you can ignore or rise above it, it might just go away…
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 9:13 am.
Well I was the Quiet One…mostly because my twin sister was more vocal and so I let her do the talking for both of us. Our family motto might have been BE NICE…you never know when you will meet that person again in life.
Posted on November 7, 2012 at 3:02 pm.
Soooo excited to get my hands on that book! Thanks so much!
Posted on November 9, 2012 at 3:27 pm.