Send A Little Smile My Way, And Don't Be So Hard On Yourself, You Won't Get Better Til You're Worse...

My cousin/sister Emilie- who normally doesn't look so crazy. But when I pulled out my camera this is what she did- its camera karma baby.

I thought about my cousins, my sister and I last night. How no one and nothing not even distance can break the bond we have with each other. We take care of each other and are the supportive group that we didn't have as kids. We are the positive in a land of negative. We cheer each other on and hold each other when we are hurt. We all grew up with each other and all have our roles in this mock-family. Me the oldest- the maternal one. Emilie the driven. Lauren the steadfast. April the dreamer. Anthony-Ray the true. And yet, we are so much more. All of us have dealt with hard times, negative people trying to bring us down, and tragedy- I am just glad that we have each other. Because even though we are spread apart- one about to graduate college, one with one year left, one already graduated, one about to enter college, and another pursuing her makeup artist dreams, I know that with one call we are together again. It took me awhile to understand that we were all the family that we needed. I am proud of us.