Just because...

You ever get one of those emails that came just at the right time and on the right day and with exactly the right sentiment you needed to hear?

I got one of those the other day.  It came from my sister and it put a big smile on my face and then a little tear dripped from my eye (crazy eyeballs just like to shed those occasionally)...

It wasn't a long email...but it reminded me of why I love my family so much. 

It doesn't matter how far away I am or how long its going to be until I see them next.  I can sit down next to any one of my five sisters.  Yes, you heard me right...FIVE sisters and talk to them like a best friend.

And lets not forget my big brother...  The one who was such a stud in highschool that when I skipped class and got caught I told my teacher I was "doing something for Ray" and got off scot free.  Of course I had to run like mad to make it to him before my teacher did to confirm he was going to uphold my alibi...

Yeah...that big brother who I trust completely...

The thing is... I've always had a fierce independent streak.  I was the kid in college that would go a month (or two) without calling home while my roommates would be on the phone at least every Sunday...  And you have to remember that I'm SO old that they didn't have cell phones way back in the early 90's like they have today.

Then my mom would track me down to make sure I was still alive and had enough top ramen noodles for the week...and she'd sneak a $100 bucks into my bank account so I could splurge a little...

And when I left home for good...it wasn't that I didn't miss home...or miss my family...its more that there was an adventure waiting for me that I just couldn't wait to experience.

And even now...I love being in Germany.  I look forward to the challenges of speaking another language, translating celsius into farenheit, driving like a mad woman on the autobahn... 

But then comes that "just because" email  that touches my heart and reminds me of home and reminds me of all the fun I had growing up and the rope swing in the backyard, and the pear and apple trees and hiding in the grape arbor and playing kick the can until late at night and torturing our neighbor kids with homemade bows and arrows and riding like wild banshees down the big hill on our bikes and playing king of the mountain on the sawdust pile and calling "not it!" and snuggling on the pillows watching every musical ever made, little house on the priarie, Jacque Cousteau and Dukes of Hazards, racing on foot up the hill every Sunday morning with nylons in hand while my mother, who firmly believes if you aren't 10 minutes early you are late, yells out the car window as she continues to inch along just fast enough to make it difficult to catch her, "You never know when you have to jump into a speeding car!", kneeling around our family prayer table each night and rolling my eyes and heaving big sighs when dad has to say AGAIN, "I love you.", and snapping out tunes with the elastic in my underwear so my sister and I can play "guess that tune"...and suddenly...I'm reminded exactly how lucky I am.