Hey, remember this photograph from a few posts back?

That shot was missing our sister, Michelle.  My siblings and I have always been pretty close, though.  We try to get together whenever we can, and there’s usually someone around with a camera.  Here’s one from the early 1990s.

Today is my elder brother’s 50th birthday. (I call Scott the elder brother because he’s about a year and a half older than Jon.  I’m the youngest.)  That means that 50% of us are older than 50 now.    Time goes waaaaay too fast.   Here’s a much more recent picture, taken at a Tijuana Flats a couple of months ago.

It’s more difficult than ever to get together regularly-  Michelle moved to Orlando last year, Scott has a hectic business and a nearly-six-year-old vying for his limited time, and Jonathan also splits his time between his job, his business, and semi-frequent trips to Orlando.

As busy as I am, I often wonder how the other three manage to get everything done without losing their minds.  Some of the pictures I took of Scott yesterday at his birthday lunch suggest that we might not all be escaping without losing our minds after all.

Still, I know many people who aren’t so close to their family members.  Lots of people have bad history or conflict with their siblings, and it’s unusual for a large family to get along as well as we usually do.  I’m not saying we don’t have our problems from time to time, but we do enjoy each other’s company, and that’s a really nice thing.

Happy birthday, Scotto.  I’ll write you another blog post after fifty more.

Are you close to your own siblings?

Editor’s Note:  I’m attempting to blog every day in November with CheerPeppers.  I don’t expect to succeed because life be crazy, but any blogging in excess of my previous post-free month is a win, right?