I've got all my sisters with me

I guess I never realized growing up that I had a pretty good family. From my cynical, too intense for my own good adolescent vantage point we were all wrong. My parents argued occasionally. My middle sister and I argued constantly. My oldest sister wanted nothing to do with the rest of us.

College, though, gave me an opportunity to see into other people's lives in a way that day to day life at home hadn't. My sisters and I spoke on the phone at least once a week. I looked forward to seeing my parents. Meanwhile, I made friends who didn't have it so good.

The friend who hardly spoke to her older sister and was never even quite certain where she was living. The boy downstairs whose father had nothing to do with him until he was a teenager. The classmate whose parents barely tolerated each other and would have been much happier if they never had to see each other again. Suddenly I felt lucky.

As I was preparing for my Ph.D thesis defense, Colleen commented that she was looking forward to the opportunity to meet my family. I asked why and she replied that it always sounded like we were five very different people but we all seemed to get along so well.

I think that's a pretty good description. But it all works really well.