My family produced a fairly good crop of nuts...

Family - truly a word that brings me joy, and laughter....right?  That's questionable! Sometimes my family makes me feel like I'm strangling, or at least wanting to strangle someone, but I don't think I could ever live without them, well most of them.

I was born in the hood, Elmwood Place, at the time It was a really cool place to live, wasn't the richest neighborhood, but we by far were not the poorest either...we lived on the "upper" side of the tracks...if you are from Elmwood, that made a difference, of course, not to me, I didn't quite understand that...I had friends all over the place so...whatever.. Anyway, apparently my mom and dad didn't quite like my brother as a newborn, he must have cried a lot or something so they decided to try again,  I was born eleven months later..  same month.  Some people say..."oh, no, Paula you were the accident"...I say, "if he would have been a better baby, they wouldn't have tried to replace him so early"...  Anyway, my brother, Ronald, named after my dad....Ronald (don't ever do that) and I never quite got along, as a matter of fact, we fought all the time...I'm not even talking arguing...I'm talking, beat the shit out of each other fighting.  I believe that I must have became a pretty good fighter since everyday, my brother and I held a MMA match in the living room! He usually won, only because he had some pounds on me! Actually as we got older, and bigger, I started fighting unfairly, he had to stop me one day, and hung me on a nail by the back of my shirt....I am not lying...he picked me up, and latched the back of my shirt to a nail.  He should be thanking me though, as I've been told many a time that when he was in a fight with someone at school, I would jump in and defend him, I do remember having a few black eyes in school.  I can beat the shit out of him people, but God forbid anyone else lay a hand on him, that's how I roll... 

My momma and pops, they are sweethearts, they are probably the nicest people I know, my mom will give the shirt off her back to people. I remember walking to school, in the winter, no not 10 miles with no shoes uphill, basically just over the tracks, and across Vine Street...no biggie, anyway, my mom walked me, she was the PTA president...and volunteered at the school a lot, we saw a kid at the light at Vine, with no coat on, my mom asks him where his jacket was, in which their reply was, that they didn't have one, so my mom, took her coat off, and gave it to the him, told him that he didn't have to return it.  I was spoiled..They gave me everything...yes I had pf fliers, a Chicago Bulls Starter Jacket, I had Chuck T's pink high tops and CK jeans, and of course  a "member's only" jacket..and black Adidas indoor soccer shoes! My dad, had no enemies, he still to this day talks to EVERYONE he sees, the UDF clerk, the gas station attendant, (remember when they used to pump gas for you, man I miss that).  He worked at like 4 a.m., at the post office downtown, he worked his ass off to give us everything we wanted and most importantly needed. He was probably the best worker they had.  Anyway, I always said that my daddy was the mailman, and it's completely true.  The next person I'm going to mention is Casey my little sister...she really isn't my real biological sister, she is actually my double first cousin, meaning, our parents are siblings...like, my mom and her mom are sisters, and my dad and her dad are brothers.  Strange huh? well yea, but that makes us as close as sisters, without actually being sisters.  She lived at my house when she was born.  My Aunt Joan and Uncle Don had her when they were not exactly planning on having kids, and they were to me at the time, fairly old, now...they weren't that old at all, anyway, they couldn't control her...lol, she was what I liked to call the Omen baby, she cried all the time!  She was never happy.  Now, she is still a little shit...just kidding, I love this girl....more than I could love any biological sister!

So that's a glimpse of my parents, what I failed to mention is the number of "foster" kids we had living with us, what I like to call my sisters and brothers from other mothers.  They were not really foster kids from the state, however, they did live with us, my parents took care of them, and they were members of our family, we just didn't get any financial help for them.  If I counted them all I would say we have had about 15 throughout the years.  As a matter of fact, my mom and dad still have 5 and one on the way at their house now. I used to think they were so dumb, why would you waste your money, time, and food on these teenagers....now, I know why they did it. I'm so glad they did too, all my brothers and sisters mean the world to me, with the exception of one, who stole every damn pair of socks I owned.  If I could find her now, I'd fill a pillow case with socks and beat her senseless with them.....lol, I know, that wouldn't hurt right?  well, maybe not, but it seems appropriate to me.  If you find the time this
week, thank someone who is fostering kids, especially teenagers, because believe me, it is not easy.

Christmas 2010....."The Crew"