The Princess

I am one of four children, but I am the only girl. I have two older brothers and one younger brother. Sean is 9 years older, Corey is 7 years older and Matt is 2 years younger.

I am the Princess. When we were younger my relationship with my brothers consisted of the usual torture and pain that older siblings can inflict complete with name-calling.

We are a weird bunch, however, and that is no more evident than in the names that my brothers used to call me: the capitals of African countries. Can you say "over-achievers"? They would call me these names so often and I would scream so frequently that I developed nodules on my throat and a chronic rhaspy voice.

I love my brothers and our relationship has developed into the kind of friendship where you can say anything, even if it is hurtful and you know you will be forgiven in the long run because you are family and you have to love each other...it isn't an option. We are older now and starting our own families, each micro-family contributing to the family as a whole. Each family is like a different ingredient in the recipe and when it's done baking the sweet aroma fills our lives and we are still and content in our joy for each other.

I can't wait for our children to grow up together and be close with their cousins because I never had that. We vacation together every summer and these summers have become the memories that we will think back on and cover us like the warm summer sun shining down on our faces. We swim in the ocean, dig our toes in the sand, dive into a lake, ski behind a boat...and we do it together. We talk about future plans and reminisce about time gone by and we grow individually and together.

I want my girls to know the mischievous boys I grew up with and bossed around, and I can only hope that each one of my brothers has a girl to be their Princess...one that will do a "show" for them.