All in the family

[Rye]

Learning about the families of other EoFFers interests me. Talk a little bit about your family!

My father was born in Italy and lived there as a child. My mother grew up in New York. I am the first born child in my entire generation in my family, and I'm the first Italian-American in my entire family. My brother, Michael, is two years younger than me and has Asperger's Syndrome.

On my mom's side, I have an aunt and an uncle. Each have two children. My Uncle has a little girl named Kristen, and a 13 year old son named Zachary who has Asperger's Syndrome. My Aunt has Sarah, and a younger daughter, Samantha, who just graduated from Pre-K. She has Asperger's Syndrome too, which is weird, because it's so rare in girls. Those two girls are beautiful. They look almost identical, and are blonde with great big hazel eyes.

I have two other cousins that I don't talk to much or see much at all. They are Italian-Cuban, and one is just a year younger than me.

I've never met either of my grandfathers, but my grandmas both live nearby. One of them my step grandfather, the other moved here recently from Italy. Italian Grandma is a cruel mean woman. Italian Grandma was a rich only child from Bologna, and my Italian grandpa was a poor farm boy from the country side of Modena. My Italian grandpa was so handsome, he looked like the head of a Mafia, in photos.

My American Grandma is very pretty and stately looking. She looks like a Queen to me, she looks like a slightly older Julie Andrews. She's a cancer survivor! My step-grandpa is really cool, he's over 80 years old, and he's always doing things like horse riding and going around the world, and running the senior citizen clubs with my grandma. My real grandfather on my mom's side died when I was only a baby. Apparently, he's the only person in the family who is very similar to me in personality.

That's just about it!

[Momiji]

Well, I guess I'll start with my parents. Dad's side first, I suppose. My dad was adopted by my grandmother and grandfather, and was raised in rural-ish Indiana with my aunt, also adopted. Even today, my grandmother lives in the same town as us. My grandfather was killed in an accident three months before I was born. Obviously, I have never met him.

My dad's side of the family is huge-- the family tree looks like a cluttered mess! There are so many people that even my dad or my grandma have never even met. However, there are very few that I know well. There's my aunt, who is married to a pastor in Michigan. They have three kids- Jonathon, Timothy, and Joshua. We just recently found out that Jonathon has Asperger's Syndrome as well-- it's not very apparent since he's so quiet, but if you talk to him about something he likes, you can't get him to shut up. He's a year older than me, and the oldest of the cousins on dad's side of the family.

As for dad's side's origins, I'm not sure. I think our ancestors came from Germany... I don't know. I'd have to ask grandma for the family records.

Then there's my mom's side, which would actually be pretty small if it wasn't for all of the divorces on that side. Because of those, we have a lot of stepfamilies in addition. You could say divorce is an epidemic on that side-- my grandma and grandpa on that side divorced when my mom was like 2 years old (and grandma has divorced and remarried multiple times), my aunt's been divorced, my uncle's been divorced, and my mom and dad divorced when I was 12. All three have remarried, so that adds other families to the tree, I guess.

Because of all the divorces, there's also a lot of fighting and stupid petty going on on mom's side. I roll my eyes and stay out of it. It's kind of funny, really. When my mom remarried, she married into a huge family that gets along really well. It was almost surreal when I met them for the first time. Everyone was friendly and happy, and no one was fighting. There was no tension, no bitterness, and they accepted me, my mom, and my brother (as well as the rest of my drama llama family on that side) with open arms. I had never seen such a thing before.

As for cousins, there's Jenni and Bryant, my uncle's kids. They're both a couple of years older than me, and no one can tell that we're related since they were born from a Korean mother (who my uncle divorced when both of my cousins were babies). Neither of them can remember her, but Jenni's interested in meeting her someday. Then there's Chase, Kylee, and Mason, my aunt's kids.

There's also my grandmother's current husband's 4 kids, three of which are in the military. April is the only one who isn't, and she has 4 kids-- Kaleb, Kaiden, Keaton, and Ava. We see April a lot, since she's one of my mom's closest friends. I'm not exactly sure what we are in relation though. I just consider them my aunts and uncles all the same, even if the youngest of the four is a year older than me. I still jokingly call him my uncle anyway. I consider Kaleb, Kaiden, Keaton, and Ava as cousins as well. I don't know any of them very well, since they're all so young (like, all 10 and under, Ava was just born almost two years ago (her birthday is next month iirc)). Oh yeah, and April's been divorced too. xD

There's also my great-grandma, who while I don't see her more than once a month, is one of my favorite people in the family. She's in her late 80s and is blind in one eye, and can't see very well out the other, and has extremely poor hearing. Because of this, many amusing conversations ensue. "Grandma, did you eat the cupcakes we gave you last week?" "Well yeah, of course I finished the puzzle, dear!" "No, no, Grandma, the cupcakes." "Right, right, the puzzle! I finished it yesterday!". She was a librarian for like 20 years before she retired, and always has a stack of books at home. It seriously would not surprise me if she's read a couple thousand books in her lifetime. However, it seems some of her books are of questionable nature. A couple of years ago, she got really sick and had to stay in the hospital for a month or so. I brought her some of her books from her house, and happened to pop one open while walking back to her room. Turns out Grandma likes some romance novels of very sexual nature. She's such a funny lady.

As for that side's origins... well, I have no clue. I don't really care, either. xD

Finally, there's me and my brother Jarrett, who is 10. Due to medical issues, there was supposed to be a child before me and after me, but both of those pregnancies ended in failure way early on-- I don't even know if either could be considered miscarriages. Either way, I was the only one born from my mother, and my brother was adopted.

Fun fact: I'm my dad's only known blood relative.

Either way, I don't see my family much, aside from my immediate family (dad, brother, mom, stepdad) and my grandma who lives like 2 minutes away, and Jenni, who's living with us at mom's house currently. I used to see Bryant all the time since he was held back a year in school, so we were always in the same grade. Since graduation, we don't see each other much. Kinda sucks, since he's also one of my best friends, but I guess that's just how it goes.

As for me and my brother, we never have got along very well-- possibly because of the 9-year age difference, or the fact that he's incredibly obnoxious at times. Either way, we have some similar interests, so it's not like we always don't get along.

That's it, pretty much. No rich history or heritages here. I'd rather not get into my grandmother's personality and the relationship issues on my mom's side, because I'd end up just annoying myself.

[qwertysaur]

Where do I start. My dad is currently in his second marriage with my Mom, married for 24 years this month. My Dad has 2 kids from his first marriage. One is my brother. He is 32 and is a Veteran of the Army. My older sister is 30 and is currently fighting cancer. I'm going to visit her tomorrow. They are both in Syracuse. Then there is me, then my younger sister. She is 16, a self proclaimed Lesbian and she can't peel herself away from the computer for 2 seconds.

My Parents come from very different backgrounds. My Mom was the fourth of six kids in a Jewish household. if you knew my Aunts and uncles, you would understand what this is like. She has a BA is Psychology but never uses it for anything. My dad is from upstate New York, and he likes to fix cars. His trade is auto repair. He has his own shop even, my Mom is the desk lady there.

Mothers side. Grandpa was a very big man, strong and never sick until cancer took his life a year ago. But if he didn't agree with you, you were WRONG and that is final. He was a WWII vet and participated in D-Day. He lived Shrimp and Harry Truman was the best president. Grandma is a typical Jewish Grandma. if you step into her house, you will be fed delicious food. She has a never ending supply.

Aunts and Uncles. there are 5 of them. Howard the Tattoed toothless train lover. He cracks random jokes, is 53 and lives with his Mom. Robin the thin wallflower. she loves to gossip, always orders Salmon if we eat out, is always on a diet and plays Bingo. Mark the preacher. He Never shuts up. Ever. Then there is my Mom. Then Nancy the. i can't describe her in one word. Dyslixic, eccentric, other? She is Nancy. Smokes up a storm, dances to her own beat, talks in Sign language, worst driver ever, not afraid to show of her new bra, and all aroind basket case. Finally there is Jeff, the buissnessman who never grew up. He's cool, but he likes to nap on my couch too much :/

Cousins. Robins children. Billy is getting married in August. He is 32. Lori is engaged and getting her masters in teaching. She is 25 . Stacey is in her secon year of college at 19. Marks Children. Michael is a Theology major. He is 24. Mark is in the Army. He is 20. Lynn is in high school, she is 15. Jeff's daughter is Jennifer, she is 9 and full of energy.

I'm too lazy to do my dads side right now. :/

[rubah]

Family relationships are pretty complex. I was going to type it all out, but I'd be here all night, and it's not fair to my family; maybe they don't want all their dirty laundry on the internet.

Condensed version!

I have two parents (still married to each other!) and four half siblings. My half brother and youngest half sister are the products of my mom's first marriage, and my two other half sister's of my dad's. Mom and Dad are supremely happy together, last time I checked (thank goodness!)

I have three nephews (and one deceased of liver cancer ) who are by turns spirited, moody, and plain little kid. My favorite is the middle one, who gives me hugs, flowers, and loves to make art. The eldest loves to watch what passes for anime on network tv!

My dad has two brothers, both younger than he. They treat me like a princess ^_^ His family was rather dirt poor growing up, but he and his brothers have done well for themselves, I think.

My paternal grandparents are in some limbo of separation I've never really understood. They practically live on the same property and don't seem to harbor any real ill-will toward each other, so I dunno! My Granny Sue is massively interested in geneology and visits cemetaries to trace the family back. (Did you know my great great great great great grandpa married his niece? ^_^) Grandpa Floyd enjoys working on motors and appliances and collecting dogs. (They just kinda show up and stick around hoping for scraps)

Did you know I only have blood-uncles? My mother has three brothers! They are all engineers. So was my grandpa (he passed away last summer). My mom's oldest brother is 17 years older than her; can you imagine it? She was an aunt when she was six years old!

My grandma Mary is a mistress of dark feminine mysteries. She crochets, embroiders, quilts, cooks (as does Granny Sue, btw) quite well, etc. She embroidered my littlest cousin a quilt with a patch for each of the 50 states on it. It's gigantor.

She and Grandpa Bill still had a farm when I was little, and I would run around with my cousins through the corn patch and the cow pasture etc. It was incredible tbh.

My great-grandpa, Alexander Marshall Jones was one of the founders of the family church, Mars Hill Presbyterian Church; the presbyterian streak goes clear back to the 18th century. I have a copy of the Confession of Faith that belonged to my x-great grandpa, who was a minister travelling to Arkansas from Tennessee. It's remarkably similar to the one I got for myself!

My dad told me the funniest stories about my great uncle Ello and his friend/cousin? Snoddy. Let's just say the best one involved a pair of turkey wings in a hay loft.

[Araciel]

I was raised by giant aquatic bears.

My dad is a naiive aMerican and my mom is a Scottish immigant. They've been married for 33 years out of laziness.

I have two sisters, one is a year and three days younger and one is six years and some incalculable amount of assorted extra time older. All of us are woefully unfit/unwilling to become parents.

[Jessweeee♪]

My dad's side of the family is small, and my parents keep us away from my mom's side so we don't catch the crazy

I have way too many relatives on my mom's side to keep track of, and I'm living with my parents, a brother, and two cousins (I think their mom is trying to get away from a psycho ex-boyfriend or something. I don't know. Nobody tells me the details.) My dad somehow managed to drop out of high school, attempt to join the navy, get married, get divorced, have a kid (me :</>D!), fight alcoholism, and then remarry by the age of twenty.

[Yar]

I am disappointed that this thread isn't about incest. :/

Anyway, my parents have been married and divorced three times. It's why I'm so emotionally stable.

[mooglebunni608]

My mommy is a lot Irish (I think her mom's mom came over on the boat), and her mom had NINE siblings, only one of which actually survived to meet me. My grandma Rita was a secretary for the FBI, and the people at the assisted living place she used to live in called her "Agent Rita". It was cool. She was also very beautiful person according to the pictures of her when she was young.

My Dad is also Irish and a lot of other things, and he was in the military when he was young. He had (and still has) really bad eyesight, so he got the best job ever- he got to yell at the new recruits, right in their faces. He got stationed in Louisiana for about two years, and got to see Mardi Gras. He describes it as "Getting ten of your closest friends together in the shower and throwing beer bottles on the ground". His dad, my grandpa, was an awesome guy who really liked draft horses and was nice to everyone, taking in my dad's cousins when their dad died. Once in a while a person who knew him will shake my dad's hand because my grandpa was so nice to them. He also had an awesome sense of humor.

My brother is going to become a super famous engineer with his own business when he gets out of college. He's a redhead (and secretly proud of it, I bet) and other than that, not very interesting.

My sister is taking a million different dance classes right now because she wants to be a professional dancer and open her own dance school. She has OCD problems and isn't very nice to me.


That's about it. I have a few aunts (including one who has the best luck and accidently meets famous people all over the place, and one who is a cancer survivor and one who programs computers) and an uncle who's a teacher. And some cousins. But I don't know them well.

[~*~Celes~*~]

Because my story is very much For those with attention deficiency disorders, here is a summarized snippet of the general ramblings for you to ponder over -, I'll give you the most condensed version I possibly can:

On my mom's side, there are Polish, German, Irish, and Crow Native American people. As far as I know, there are no half-siblings in there anywhere, but my great-grandma Albright re-married after her husband died, so yeah. Umm, lots of alcoholics and cancer :\ And my Great Uncle Chuck got hit with some Agent Orange in the face...not a lot mind you, he's still alive and healthy, but enough to leave some marks on his face.

On my dad's side, I have Scottish, German, English, French, and Wyandot and Ottawa Native American somewhere in there. I think. I'm not entirely sure. But I can tell you, I'm related to General George McClellan and, by extension, Clint Eastwood AND Hugh Hefner and Daniel Webster, who created Webster's dictionary

Also, two towns were founded by my family on my dad's side, according to my great-grandma (who has alzheimer's by the way so I can't say exactly how trustworthy the source is): Snookville in England and New Riegle here in Ohio. My great-grandma is rich, but chooses to live a more low-key lifestyle on the outskirts of Findlay. She's very generous, and very sweet, but if you want to know where I get my stubbornness and determination from, look at her I think that if I were to choose a role model, it'd be her.

My Uncle Chad, Uncle Cory, and Aunt Lori are all half siblings of my dad's, but my Uncle Ryan is my dad's full-blooded brother. Cory's always in jail and Ryan is married to a lady who lost all five of her kids because she's made some very, very poor choices. Also, she slept with her brother. She gives me the creeps.

From my dad's side, we have: nymphomania, alcoholics, and cancer.

[rubah]

I am disappointed that this thread isn't about incest. :/

well. . .

[Breine]

My mom, Susanne, and dad, Karsten, have been married for 30 years now, it was their wedding day a couple of weeks ago. Like me they're both the youngest of their siblings (my mom the youngest of 4 and my dad of 3) and as a result I'm the youngest of all my cousins. Actually some of my cousins have children only a couple of years younger than me. My mom has her own shop and my dad now works in a lab, since some back and shoulder problems forced him to quit his other job.

I don't really see my dad's brothers and their kids that much - it's been years since the last time. One of them lives in Sweden and the other lives on a small island far away called Bornholm. Fun fact, though: My dad and his brothers all start with the letter "K" (as do I), and their names (Karsten, Kurt and Kjeld) all appear in an old variety show song.
My dad's mom died before I was even born, while my dad's father died when I was seven. He's the only grandparent I can remember having, and he was the first death I ever experienced (or remember to be more precise). He used to be a respected butcher, and helped open many slaughter houses and such. Some of his sausage recipes are still sold today, and are quite popular in Esbjerg (one of the bigger towns in Denmark).

The part of my family I see the most is my mother's side, even though they're pretty scattered. My mom's oldest sister, Edith, and her husband, Eigil, live in Germany, near Cologne. They have buttloads of money, and visiting them as a kid was like being part of a fairy tale or something.. I was convinced their house was a castle. They used to also live in Sweden, where their daughters also was raised, so my cousins speak Swedish when together with us, and Edith and Eigil speak a mixture of Swedish, Danish and German. Edith and Eigil's youngest daughter, Pia, lives in the same town as them, and also make loads of money (they're like my rich family living in a foreign country xD). When she was young she broke her leg on a skiing trip, and had to have it put back in place without any anesthetics. As a result of the shock she lost all of her hair, and never got any of it back, and now wears a wig and has eyebrows tattooed. That's how the story goes anyway. She has a small daughter with her husband.
Edith and Eigil's other daughter, Helle, still lives in Sweden with her 4 kids. She just left her husband who treated her like sh*t, and is now trying to get back on her feet.

My mom's other sister, Grethe, comitted suicide many years ago (before I was born). She was beautiful, but also an alcoholic. She had two daughters. One of them lives in Florida with her three kids, and the other we haven't really had any contact with in recent years.

My mom's brother, Poul Erik (or Polle), commutes between Denmark, Norway and Thailand. He used to live in Denmark, but when his wife left him he got depressed and went to Thailand, like many other middle-aged men I suppose. Eventually he got cancer, in one testicle and also had a tumor somewhere in the stomach. Thankfully he survived, but being even more depressed because of it he returned to Thailand, where he found himself a Thai girlfriend, Sawien. He now works in Norway, and when he has enough money he comes to visit us in Denmark before he goes to Thailand for some months, to visit his girlfriend.
He has three kids, that we don't really see that much anymore.

My mom's mother died before I was born. Apparently she was an amazing woman, who unfortunately was sick many years of her life. She was a talented artist, and painted a lot of porcelain and such, which we have a lot of this day.
My mom's father died when I was two, so I don't remember him. Polle looks just like him, though, and apparently has the same personality as him. My grandpa used to be a baker and pastry chef, and also was imprisoned and got close to getting executed under the 2nd World War, back when Germany had invaded Denmark. He was part of the resistance - he hid weapons from the German soldiers and such, and when they'd ordered him to bake them some bread he put sawdust in the bread instead of flour, and then went and made bread with the flour that he would give to the Danes. I know, very legend-y xD There are more examples, but I don't remember.
Also, another family fact: My mother's uncle died on a certain date (I don't remember it now), and ten years later on the exact same date my grandmother died.. and then ten years after that on the same date my grandfather died. Yeah, that's my mom's family's curse I guess.

Anyway, I myself have an older brother, Henrik, who's 29. He's a school teacher and lives with his girlfriend. We get along great, despite the age difference, and that we don't really share any of the same interests.
I also have a younger foster sister, Tippe, who's 13. She came to us when she was 8. Her mother's a really talented painter, but she's really ill (bipolar, schizophrenia etc.) and her dad was an alcoholic/junkie and actually died while she lived with us. As a result of her living here we also see her family quite a lot, especially her mother and her two real brothers (who are both in their 20s). Foster or not, she's like my real sister.

Um yes, I think that's pretty much it.

[NeoCracker]

From my moms side.

My grandma had 12 kids, all of whom married, so I have 24 aunts and uncles on my Grandmas side. My aunt ruth is one of those people obsessed with rocks, my uncle Kent is like, the epitome of Redneck, but in a funny way, and he's with a crazy bitch who needs slapped.

Darwin is bitter and selfcentered, and threw a massive bitchfit when he Grandma moved back in with my mother rather then staying with him, acting like everyone stabbed him in the back.

Theres uncle Bill and Butch, two cool guys, they seem like your stereotypical large funny men, good times spent chatting with those two.

Then theirs Tony, who was a navyman and VERY strange. Very strange in deed.

My grandma herself is so tiny and soft voiced, though if she's mad, even though she's had cancer in her leg 3 times and she's in a walker, moves VERY fast for a 90 year old women. She can smack you with a cane and have it back on the ground looking like she hadn't moved before you ever realized she hit you...

My mom, while funny and so loveable, is a stubborn mule of a women, and tends to get very short sighted at the worst possible times.

On my dads side, well most of those people deserve to burn in eternal hellfire. They are stuck up, selfish, greedy, and overall horrible people, and I won't go into much more detail.

The only people I like from that side are uncle Rodger and Cousin Bryan, who oddly enough was addopted into the FAmily, and Rodger married in....

My dad himself was, at times, the classic dirty old man. HE drove a truck fro Jefferson county road and bridge, yet he had a binder full of all sorts of cirtificutes and degrees, one of which was in Psycology. HE was also a Semi-pro racecar driver, he was the head of one of the city departments in Los Angeles County, I forget exactly what department but one of their duties was to take care of tree's and what not, and he even owned a bar at one point.

I'll avoid talking about a couple of my sibblings, because I don't feel like enraging myself right now, but I live with my Brother Jeremy, who somehow manages to be more of a Hermit then me, and then theirs Zach. While we get along really well, and he's a great guy, when I lived with him I wanted to strangle the everloving life out of him until his body was nothing more then a limp and lifeless rag doll.

But as long as I don't live with him we're cool. ^_^

[Madame Adequate]

Hmmm... Let's see. I have a mom, and do not have a dad. He was not a good person and his alcoholism killed him at age 37, so really that'll say enough (Though is just the tip of an unpleasant iceberg).

I dunno who my dad's dad was. It's not my grandpa though, my grandma cheated on him with someone. =O I have an aunt and an uncle on that side, both not cheat babies. xD My uncle is a [strike]drain on society[/strike] Member of Parliament. Their mom is still alive, my grandma, and she's pretty cool, she raised me quite a bit, but she was also heavily alcoholic during that time

On my mom's side of the family, I have two uncles and an aunt. I've not seen any of them in a decade+ Several cousins as well. Also there's Granny and Granda.

Granny Sadie and Granda Jack are Mommy's parents. Granda Jack has been dead for about 16 years now, which is very sad, partly because he was amazing and partly because poor Granny's been without him for so long. She still misses him so deeply and thinks of him every day, and because she's religious she believes they'll be reunited after she dies. One of the few instances where I hope I'm wrong about atheism. Granny is absolutely amazing. She's 77 and has not got any saner as she has aged. She pretends to be completely demented and senile in order to get away with things, like chatting up young men.

When she was younger though, she acted pretty much just the same as she does now. One story that makes me lul, and I know Rye is amused by it as well: When she and Jack were young folks together, they were out shopping. Granny Sadie was looking in a store window at stuff, and when she was done she grabbed Granda Jack's bum and said let's go or whatever. Then she turned and looked at him and it was someone else entirely, and Granda Jack was about five stores down the road looking in a completely different store. He nearly died laughing when she told him, apparently. xD Oh and one time she set his newspaper on fire because she was itching for a fight, but he sat and continued reading it, and she panicked and had to put it out. I lul'd.

[drotato]

That's interesting... I didn't know you were Italian, Rye. (:

I don't really like talking about my family, but... there are a lot of weird loop holes to mine. o.O

Uhhhh, let's just say that somehow I am German/Canadian/Irish/ and ummmm, my last name is English. o.O
Weirrrrrd.

Biological father was Irish, and Canadian. My mother is the German side, and it's just wacked up, really. o.o

My great grandfather was the last fullblooded German in our family, and he passed away a few summers ago. That sucked big time.

Well, other than that, there's really not much to talk about. /:

[Unbreakable Will]

Heh, where to begin....

Umm, beside my mother, I'm not blood related to ANY of my family, well my biological father excluded...but I'll get to him later.

Well mom was adopted in Florida by my grandparents, we think she is part Puerto Rican (or Cuban, but same diff right?) Well, they moved around quite a bit and she met a douchebag, I am the spawn of his douchey seed...

He was of Irish/Scottish descent, I'm not sure which one, the last name was Nichols. Well she left his sorry ass, (this was a back story as to WHY im not blood related to anyone)

My mom and her second husband (my stepdad of 13 years) are getting divorced now, and even though im not really around them it still sucks. But w/e makes madre happy.

My grandparents are pretty cool at times (mostly grandad) and my aunt and uncle have turned into assholes recently and I want NOTHING to do with them.

So my family is a little odd, but what family isn't?