2008 Woodie Awards
Special surprises keep families growing...and growing
Katelyn Henry
Issue date: 10/21/04 Section: Feature of the Week-FAMILY
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There are 11 people in my family. Yes, my immediate family.
This may seem a bit odd to some, too big to others, or perhaps a typo, but to me, it's becoming a bit more normal with each tally added to the Henry family total.
It was originally supposed to be a family of five. But mistakes-or "surprises," as I like to think of them-happen. At the ages of 13, 11, and 10, my siblings were let in on a secret they surely didn't expect: there was going to be a new addition to the family-me.
A perfect family of 6-two parents, two girls, and two boys. And just when my parents were getting used to things again, the additions kept coming....a son-in-law, daughter- in-law, and three grandchildren. Eleven people in total.
But just as my siblings reacted when I was born, I wasn't quite ready to add any more people to the ranks.
When my sister got married when I was still in middle school, the photographer took umpteen pictures of everyone. When he finished, I whispered to my mother, "But we don't have one of just our family."
"Sure we do," she answered. "We took a bunch of them."
"But Kurt was in them."
My mother laughed. Kurt, my sister's new husband, was part of the family now, a fact that hadn't registered to me. It was no longer just the six of us; even though they had a different last name, my family now numbered seven.
This took some getting used to, but I was better prepared when, three years later, my brother came home to announce that he was going to ask his girlfriend, Tracy, to marry him. As the phone rang late that night to confirm the news, I jumped on the line.
"Hey Sis!" Tracy was on the other end, and I was eager to unofficially welcome her into the clan.
And then there were eight. Little did I know, however, that as Number Eight was saying "I do" to joining in on the craziness, Number Nine was already on the way.
I had been nagging my sister since her honeymoon to have children, yet she caught me completely off-guard as I stood outside a quiet locker room in my cheerleading uniform waiting for the football team-which had just lost a big game-to exit when my cell phone rang. It was my home line, but rather than my mother nagging me about when I would be home, it was my sister. I told her we were going out for ice cream, joking "Don't wait up, mom."
This may seem a bit odd to some, too big to others, or perhaps a typo, but to me, it's becoming a bit more normal with each tally added to the Henry family total.
It was originally supposed to be a family of five. But mistakes-or "surprises," as I like to think of them-happen. At the ages of 13, 11, and 10, my siblings were let in on a secret they surely didn't expect: there was going to be a new addition to the family-me.
A perfect family of 6-two parents, two girls, and two boys. And just when my parents were getting used to things again, the additions kept coming....a son-in-law, daughter- in-law, and three grandchildren. Eleven people in total.
But just as my siblings reacted when I was born, I wasn't quite ready to add any more people to the ranks.
When my sister got married when I was still in middle school, the photographer took umpteen pictures of everyone. When he finished, I whispered to my mother, "But we don't have one of just our family."
"Sure we do," she answered. "We took a bunch of them."
"But Kurt was in them."
My mother laughed. Kurt, my sister's new husband, was part of the family now, a fact that hadn't registered to me. It was no longer just the six of us; even though they had a different last name, my family now numbered seven.
This took some getting used to, but I was better prepared when, three years later, my brother came home to announce that he was going to ask his girlfriend, Tracy, to marry him. As the phone rang late that night to confirm the news, I jumped on the line.
"Hey Sis!" Tracy was on the other end, and I was eager to unofficially welcome her into the clan.
And then there were eight. Little did I know, however, that as Number Eight was saying "I do" to joining in on the craziness, Number Nine was already on the way.
I had been nagging my sister since her honeymoon to have children, yet she caught me completely off-guard as I stood outside a quiet locker room in my cheerleading uniform waiting for the football team-which had just lost a big game-to exit when my cell phone rang. It was my home line, but rather than my mother nagging me about when I would be home, it was my sister. I told her we were going out for ice cream, joking "Don't wait up, mom."