Keeping in touch in a large family (by Ashley)

My dad is a prolific journal keeper. He has been keeping a daily journal since about 1967, and hasn't missed a day. In fact, now his retirement, he has compiled his life history and it is nearly 700 pages long! The importance of recording history has been passed on to his children.

People often ask us, being from a large family, how we "like it." I've always found this an odd question, because I've never been from a small family, so it's not like I can really compare the two.

As adults, we are now spread out across the country. If you are reading this post it is likely you know one of my sisters living in Idaho, Nevada, Maryland, Ohio, West Virginia, or Ecuador. We don't have the benefit of getting together for a Sunday dinner or sitting down for a family chat on a Friday night, but we do keep in touch.

For the past several years now, on Sunday night any of our siblings' inbox can look like this:

Our dad's journal keeping has gotten to all of us. While most of us are not proficient at keeping a daily journal, we all try with some regularity to send a weekly email to all of our siblings, updating them on our activities.

So that means when I saw Haley on Saturday that I already knew she watched Blindside last weekend, and when I saw Derek I already knew how much he loved his internship, and when I saw Cassidy I already knew what her experience was like in Kansas. I already knew that my dad has been practicing up on his Spanish, and that my mom had been sick.

So instead of using our weekend to catch up, we spent it making new memories.

Our mother... isn't she beautiful?

So yes we "like" being in a big family. And keeping each other updated about our lives make us "like" each other even more!