The Crazy Side of Normal

I have a confession to make and I must warn you; it might be a little disturbing. Some of you may be wondering what took me so long to see what was right in front of me; how could I be so blind? To be honest, I’ve always known, but it takes a lot of courage to stand up and say my family is crazy!

Brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, moms, dads, and grandparents, there is no end to the amount of phobias one could obtain in such a circle. Let’s face the facts: Family will be the first to point out our bad habits, and thank goodness they do, otherwise, I might have sucked my thumb until I was 20! They are the first to recognize our failures, the first to criticize our weaknesses, and the first to praise our successes.

My family is the the most diverse group of people I know.

There are nay-sayers, do-gooders, and ride-the-fencers. There are believers, non believers, and a few that fall in between. There are in-laws and outlaws, free-loaders and farmers, musicians, pilots, and machinists. There are cat lovers and cat haters and meat eaters and vegans, and sometimes the only common ground is that we are all related to each other.

If any of this sounds familiar, but you are too afraid to state the obvious, you can take heart in knowing that you are not alone. Growing up, I was certain there wasn’t another family out there as crazy as mine, but I married my husband and found out I was wrong! Kidding *wink-wink*, really I am.

Now you may be asking the question, “Karen, how can you fit in so well and be so normal?” I have asked this very question myself, and then it came to me metaphorically: I am on the crazy side of normal (after all, I am a writer), therefore I am just another nut in the family tree.

My family has been broken apart and put back together so many times over the years you might think we are weak and fragile. But when tragedy knocked me down, family was there breathing life back into me and for that I am forever grateful. Thank you for being strong when I couldn’t be, thank you for loving me in spite of my flaws, and thank you for being just crazy enough to make life interesting!

origianl photo credit: <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/24842486@N07/11970571345/”>e r j k p r u n c z y k</a> via <a href=”http://photopin.com”>photopin</a&gt; <a href=”http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/”>cc</a&gt;