In a large family with an equally large sibling age gap, it’s so strange to me that my youngest sibling is actually graduating. It’s an end of an era of continuous schooling all the way from my oldest sister in Kindergarten to now my youngest brother finishing high school.

Payton came along a few years after Jordan. I seem to remember Jordan’s arrival much more vividly than Payton’s, but I mostly attribute that to my 6-year-old fashion crisis of spilling ketchup on my white shirt. The mortification. Still, Payton’s arrival 3 years later gave me another chance to mother a live doll.

It’s been fun to have my younger brothers transition from little kids to adults. The older we all get, the more fun we have together and I’m continually reminded of how grateful I am for my large, crazy family.