I was listening to this song earlier and I got all teary eyed. I really listened to the words and thought about my own family. My father has made his transition, but not one day has gone by since he passed that I haven't thought of him. Prior to his death he had Alzheimer's Disease. The last few times I went to see him, he no longer remembered who I was. We were always close, and seeing that he didn't know who I was really hurt. My step mom is still alive and I call her often. My birth mother is also alive. Our relationship is not what I would like for it to be, but I have made peace with it for what it is. I have three brothers living, and two that have passed away. I only have a relationship with one of my brothers, but it is not because I haven't tried. There is something about me that makes my older brother uncomfortable, and he lets me know each time he sees me, so I stay away from him to avoid feeling his wrath. My baby brothers - Ronald Greene and Gregory Little - I love you dudes to life. I have four sisters. Two of them I grew up with and I know and love them dearly. I also love my two absent sisters.
Families are some funny things, aren't they? We don't get to pick our family. We are born into it and are expected to love and die and fight for one another. Sometimes we don't even like each other, we have to learn to find the great things about each other and love and applaud those things, you know. I am always talking up my brothers and sisters, from Big Momma who used to tear my butt up if I acted up to Gregory who followed me around when he was little because he thought I was special. I can still smell my hair frying every Saturday afternoon while my sister pressed it until it was laid to the side! When I went through my "Angela Davis" phase and didn't want straight hair, my sister Debra Blount would hook it up with some serious cornrow styles. I think about my grandmother's homemade cakes, her fried fish and fluffy buttermilk biscuits. I think about my tiny little grandma Maranda Blount and how she made the best grape preserves, pickles, and pone bread. I remember sitting across from my brother, Tyrone and making plans to get together with him the following week, but he died before it happened. I know my little brother Gregory feels he has lost his place among us, and that keeps him from taking that step. That's why whenever I talk to Mommie; his mom I always, always asks about him and tell her to give him a hug and kiss for me. She told me that he wanted his own copy of my books and how he was bragging to his coworkers on Wall Street about his big sister writing books and how big time I am. (not really, but I won't clear it up). My arms are open for when he is ready to walk into them. Just three words! I love you! Plain and simple. Yet for some of us they are the hardest words to say.
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