My last post introduced you to my wonderful children.  Now I want to introduce you to my siblings and my friends.  My childhood was “normal” for the 60’s I guess, with my mom as the homemaker and my dad as the breadwinner.  With 5 siblings before me I was somewhat spoiled but mostly just a part of the whole that made up our family (I know I said that I am the youngest of 7, but my sister Paulette died in a car accident when I was 6 months old so I never knew her).  We had our share of laughter and great sadness when we lost Paulette at 18 and then Nicole at 33.  I don’t know how my parents soldiered on after both of these loses but they did, enabling the rest of their children to lead normal and healthy lives.  I can’t even begin to describe what great parents they were.  Unfortunately they have passed on a while ago but their lessons of kindness and generosity has always stayed with us.

My sisters and my brother have been by my side throughout my journey.  Always only a phone call away.  It took a lot for me to ask for help, being that I’m somewhat of a control freak but when I did, they were there with bells on.  They were my shoulders to cry on at times and often the butt of my jokes (kidnapping Ghislaine’s pink crocks and asking for ransom comes to mind). They made me laugh, cooked for me and often chauffeured me when I needed them.  They were definitely a great support for me and my family when we needed them.  Their generosity, kindness and patience mean the world to me and I know that they will always be there to support my husband and my kids later on.  BT’s family have also been very supportive during the difficult times, offering their love and support to their brother and to myself is very appreciated.

Not only am I lucky enough to have great siblings, I also have great friends. Friends that we’ve had and cherished for a long time and new friends that we met along the way have been so kind and generous to our family.  From my Montreal Canadians co-fans who text me during games to our weird and quirky friends who make me die laughing at their very inappropriate snap chats (you know who you are) we are truly lucky to have them in our lives.  BT’s long list of good friends (or boyfriends as I call them), are always there for him and his feelings.

Probably the most surprising friendship that we’ve made is the one we have with my son-in-law’s quirky Italian family.  They have embraced us fully into their famiglia as soon as our kids were engaged and we’ve been great friends ever since.  When I was recuperating from surgeries, Irene was quick to make me soup, sauce and of course pasta making sure that I was fed and that BT ate.  They were there when I received bad news and there to celebrate with us when we got good news.  We now share grandchildren so we are now closer than ever.  We celebrate everything together – Christmas, birthdays (one every week I think), Easter and every other occasion we can think of.  We even spent two weeks together in Italy getting to know the rest of the famiglia.  We had the best time visiting Rome where Silvano was born and Molise where Irene is from.  It would seem that Silvano was such a brat when he spent time in Molise with his family that when an old lady saw us, she spotted him and made the sign of the cross implying that the devil was back!  I guess that comes from the fact that he locked an old one-eyed lady in a basement because he thought she was a witch! True story, you can’t make up that shit!  He terrorised that village I am told (he slept with an egg and a hammer and when a little girl tried to take his hammer, he hit her over the head with it and she had to be sent to the hospital).  Oh the stories we heard!

Family and friendships that’s what it’s all about! I hate to sound cliché but that’s what helps you through the bad times and makes you appreciate the good times.

Well, other than my Silvano stories, this page wasn’t very funny.  Sorry about that! I promise the next ones are pretty funny.  We’ll be talking about my numerous surgeries and I swear there’s a funny story for each.  Like when I woke up from my first reconstructive surgery and notices that my belly button was now on my breast!  Good times!