My Family, All 5 of Us

Today on Kelly's Korner is Show us your life Friday.  I haven't linked up for these in a LONG time but when I saw that it was "feature your family" I knew I had to link up.  I'm actually pretty angry at myself for not having blogged about my family more.  They truly are unique, kind, entertaining, brilliant, and loving.

My family is a family of 5.  My Mom, Dad, Danny, Carlos, and me.

PARENTS

Mommy: My Mom is probably one of the most talented, hard working women you'll ever meet.  She is determined to be 100% at just about anything she puts her mind to.  I've heard people dub her as "super mom."  I'm not sure she likes that phrase, but it's a complete compliment.  Growing up, she somehow managed to work, have three children, have them all involved in piano and sports, cook a delicious dinner, and run the household.  When I say she had the three of us involved, I don't think I can go into enough detail.  She knew about every project we had, she never missed a volleyball game, etc.  What is so impressive is that my Mom is a radiologist.  Having a doctor be SO involved in her kids lives is almost unheard of.  Because of her success, I found the strength to decide to be a lawyer.  My Mom taught me that you could do it all, and be really damn good at it too.  My Mom and I are eerily similar: we're both hardworking and perfectionists.

Daddy: My Dad and I are really close.  I have always been a Daddy's girl.  My daddy is single handily the most brilliant man I have ever met.  I have had MULTIPLE MULTIPLE people tell me that they've never met a smarter individual...I completely understand why they say that.  He was an electrical engineer accepted to a graduate program in Stanford when he decided to do medicine instead.  Then, he graduated third in his medical school class.  He really is a jack of all trades...if you don't know how to fix something, he's your man, for ANYTHING.  My Dad and I have a few traditions that I'd like to mention: we go see the new Pixar movie every year as my Father's Day gift (Cars 2 this year!  WOOT WOOT!) AND we used to watch College Football together ALL day on Saturday.  We still talk about football on the phone every weekend.  I definitely got the math minded personality from my Dad.  I like to think that I got some of his smarts too.  Whenever he tells me I'm really smart, I, for that moment, actually feel proud of myself, and I rarely do that.

My Dad, me, and my Mom on the day of my wedding. 

I've been told I look like my Mom with my Dads complexion!

SIBLINGS

Carlos: Carlos was about 6 years older than me and passed away when he was 13 years old in a car accident.  I wish I could write an entire paragraph telling you guys what he did for a living, but unfortunately, I never got to know.  Carlos was an AMAZING older brother.  He was so kind hearted.  While Danny and I are no dummies, Carlos was the smartest out of the three of us.  He was SO very scientific oriented and won state in his science fair project earning him a full scholarship to school.  He did that at the tender age of 13, honestly, SO smart.  I miss him EVERY day and think about him CONSTANTLY. 

Danny: Danny is my older brother.  He is 7 1/2 years older than I am (can you tell I was an oops? ha!) yet we are RIDICULOUSLY close.  Danny is hilarious and always the life of a party.  He's an allergist with my Dad, but his biggest hobby by far is music.  He composes awesome pieces and plays piano so very well.  All three of the siblings were very involved in music and Danny definitely knocks my socks off in the composing department.  Danny and I have a great time just hanging out.  Growing up he always helped me with my basketball skills.  We used to drive to school together (it was a 30 minute drive) so we learned the lyrics to songs together and became really close after driving in the car together for an hour.  After my brother Carlos passed, Danny really took me under his wing and has ALWAYS been there for me.  I love him to death.

 Danny and I sharing a hug right after I got married.

 I love my family.  They mean SO much to me.  We're a loud, happy Puerto Rican bunch that has gone through so very much.  But one thing I can tell you ... we DO NOT take each other fore granted.  I am so lucky to have them, and that's something I think of every single day.