Dale-Bud and The Call Kids

Last week my dad had a heart attack.  They took him in to do an angiogram and realized his main artery was 99% blocked and he needed immediate surgery.  A few days ago he had a double bypass and is now in recovery in ICU and doing very well.  He'll have a long recovery, but his heart should be good for another 100,000 miles!

I've been feeling pretty hopeless being here and trying to communicate using Skype and working around a 16 hour time difference.  But one consolation is that all four of my siblings went to Central California immediately and were there for him before and after his surgery.  

I knew when I heard my brother Brandon would be there, that everyone would be in much better spirits.  I was right.  Evidently Brandon got kicked out of Intensive Care and subsequently banned by the nurses because he got my dad laughing too hard which was causing extreme pain.  (He was telling the story about Laura, two chestnuts on his mantle, and the vasectomy...It's a good one.)  

Aside from thinking and worrying a lot about my dad, I've been thinking that I'm really really glad I come from a big family.  I'm the youngest of five kids, (six if you count my foster brother Ferlando,) and I'm very very grateful for all of my siblings.  There have been times I've been REALLY REALLY mad at each and every one of them, but MOST of the time I like 'em all.  And they each bring a completely unique dynamic to the family.  

Let me introduce you:

Karie is the oldest and also a practicing Witch Doctor.  (She may even be an Internet Minister...just like Joey on friends.)  She freely dispenses gratuitous health advice (both physical and mental) and will gladly check your aura/chakra/feng shui-ness if you want her too.  She has no butt to speak of, is an excellent graphic designer, still looks like she's 30, and keeps in touch with ALL of her ex-boyfriends.  (Way worse than me, people!)

Laura is the second oldest.  She's a tightwad, (but still generous) and a perfectionist which means her house is always pretty darn clean.  She has the best singing voice in the family and the biggest addiction to chocolate.  She tries all the time to claim she's not creative and therefore CAN'T be genetically related to the rest of us, but we tell her to quit dreaming.  She'll never be rid of us.

Brandon is stuck in the middle of four sisters, poor guy!  (He claims he still hasn't forgiven me for coming out female!)  He's a computer geek who can fix any computer problem over the phone in 20 minutes or less.  (Usually closer to five.)  He's the family comedian and is one of the craziest people you'll ever meet.  (If you meet him.  Which you probably wont since you're a blog lurker and therefore a complete stranger.)  He's extremely generous and hard-working and is just an overall good guy despite his penchant for practical joking...and in spite of the fact that he sometimes goes through Emergency Exits on purpose (setting off hospital alarms...) and told all of my in-laws at my Wedding Dinner that I had a tattoo on my b-u-t-t.  (I don't.)

(As far as YOU know.)

Ferlando is my Navajo Indian foster brother. He came to live with us (for every school year) starting when he was 8 until he graduated from High School. (He lived with his family on a reservation every summer.) Fernie is a year younger than Brandon and was just as much my sibling as any of them.  Which means he tortured me just as much as Brandon did.  Unfortunately, he's had a rough post-high-school life and I haven't seen him in years. My brother Brandon hears from him occasionally, though!

We like to call Jenny "the Enigma".   (NOT to be confused with Enema.) She was a pretty shy kid, but darned if she didn't grow right into a whole boat-load of assertiveness.  She's the family pacifist and closet liberal.  She's an excellent cook, and semi-vegetarian.  She says she just wants everyone to get along but just when you think you have her figured out, she goes and moons you.   Since Jenny is the closest to me in age, I fought with her the most growing up.  In fact, I still have some tiny crescent-shaped scars on my arms from Jenny's finger nails.  BUT we get along great now and she only gouges my arms occasionally.  (In case you're humor inept, that last part was a joke.)

I'm the baby of the family.  Everyone claims I was the most spoiled.  In truth, I was the most TORTURED!  I was very precocious little kid, very bossy big kid, and very argumentative teenager.  Now I'm perfect and everyone loves me the best.  

Well, that's us.  I'm grateful for my big family and glad that even if I never have another kid (I want another kid) my boys will at least have two brothers each to watch their back. 

Thank goodness for FAMILIES!!!

Get well soon, Dad!!!