Family

When you hear the word family what do you think of?  Growing up all of us have the dreams of the perfect family with growing up in a house with a white picket fence.  Well I had that same dream and even though I may not have the family in my dreams I wouldn't trade them for anything.

I am going to start first with my uncle, who I have never met because 5 months before I was born he was accidentally shot at a service station just acrossed the street from where he lived.
 Below is a picture of my Uncle Lowell:

After such a tragedy in the family one might think how would you overcome something like that but on December 4, 1969 was what my Grandma Sibyl always told me was her lifesaver because that was the day that I was born.  So after such a tragedy my family saw a happy occasion which was much needed.  So you might think that we would have a typical family that everyone dreams about and yeah I can say that we had for a short time until my mom got the news that she had a brain tumor. 

Below is the family picture that was taken in Alabama in December 1977:

That is the last family picture that I had taken with my mom Charlotte Ann Wolverton because in May 1978 was when she lost her battle with cancer and I was just in the 2nd grade.  How would a family bounce back from yet another tragedy?  I remember for the the longest time that my brother and I stayed a lot with my Grandma Sibyl and Grandpa Howard so once again they were the rock of the family to keep going from this loss to the family. 
I then got a chance at that perfect family when my dad remarried when I was in the 3rd grade but this time not only did I get a new mom but another brother and sister.
Below is the picture of a trip to Alabama that we took with my second family:

You would think that this would be a typical family because you have a dad, mom and 4 kids but on August 30, 1980 we added one more little girl to the family.

This family just keeps growing because we went from 7 to the picture below:

Family is important no matter if it is biological, step or extended we are a crazy bunch when we get together but we are family and I wouldn't change anything how the everything turned out.