NTW

I am the oldest of eight children, as you can see in this lovely photo taken by my sister in-law Kate Benson.
By the way, I am shorter then my siblings, but my 2 sisters were wearing very high heeled shoes. I was wearing flats, so... I'm not a 'little person'. We were in the woods for crying out loud.
Anyway, I'm the oldest. I then have two brothers, Nathan and Andy. Next come my sisters, Sarah and Cathy. I then have 3 brothers, Bobby, Tim and Peter. Tim and Pete are identical twins.
While growing up I remember wishing I had a sister closer to me in the line-up. My closest sister is almost 7 years younger then I am. I'm told that Nate and I spent a lot of time playing together. I don't really remember. Nate says I used to dress him in girl's clothing. I've always had an eye for fashion. Sorry I had to practice on you Nate.

I'm guessing I was probably a bossy older sister. Looking at these pictures I'm also guessing we had some fun.
As a teenager I was probably too cool for my family. There were 4 times the amount of children in my family as were in my friend's families in Minnesota, so embarrassing.
Nate and I started to become friends again when we received our mission calls around the same time. Mine to Nova Scotia, his to Moscow Russia. He called me from Russia on Mother's day. We had a wonderfully long talk as two missionaries. I later found out he had charged the phone call to my parents. Sorry Mom and Dad.
Time has gone by and we've had our moments of losing touch for a period and becoming reacquainted. Nate now lives in NYC. Ironically, with the distance between us, we are the closest we have been in years. Nate is my confidant and an empathetic listening ear. Nate understands my joys and pains. I am lucky to have Nate as my friend and brother. I miss you Nate, you aren't a sister but I wouldn't have it any other way.