The Best Family In the World

Silver Valley Girl, Mom, and Raymond Pert on his birthday in Kellogg a couple of weeks ago.

I have the best family a girl could ever want. The structure of this family has changed much throughout my adult years. Three spouses are not part of the family anymore. Three spouses have now become a part of the family. Babies and grown children have joined the group as grandchildren, nieces, step-children, and step great-grandchildren. Dogs and cats have left the family and new ones have been introduced.  We have said sad farewells to grandmothers, uncles, aunts, and Dad. I think the passing of my dad, as sad as it was, has brought our family closer together. We came together and have stayed together.

We supported Mom the best we could through her breast cancer, back injury, and hip replacement. We went wig shopping, practiced using a walker for her, and tried to find anything that would taste good during chemo.  We did what we could from afar when Raymond Pert suffered months of illness last year. At two writing retreats I observed him gently pull amazing writing from participants with ease and humor.   Each time Silver Valley Girl by herself or with family members performs, directs, writes the script, does concessions, sells tickets, does PR, and/or manages lights at the Sixth Street Theater in Wallace, Idaho the family is there to laugh when we are supposed to laugh, boo and hiss when in the audience for the melodrama, or walk up on the stage as brother RP did a few summers ago as part of Kelly's Alley.

Even though our homes stretch from Kettle Falls to Kellogg to Eugene we have a common bond that brings us together. Our sibling assignments on our blogs and sibling outings around the inland empire are two of those bonding activities.  Holidays (like RP's birthday above) are another.  Mom's deck for a BBQ in the summer often brings us all together. It may also be our country church at Garden Valley, a movie at the Valley Mall, or a road trip to the Oregon Coast.

We have all had challenges, heartbreaks, ups, downs, good jobs, bad jobs, works published, pictures in the press, victories, defeats, the best of times and the worst of times, but we have hung together.I do have the best family in the world. Thank you SVG, RP, and Mom.