Family

Let's talk about family for a minute... or ten!

I have to say I am so thankful for my family and could not imagine being blessed with a better family! They are the best family in the world to have!

My family is fairly big, mom, dad, and six of us kids. We grew up very different from everyone else and I cannot possibly explain in words, thoughts, or actions how thankful I am for them and how much they mean to me. It's really a spiritual thing when I think about them.

I have never met anyone else who works as hard as my parents do with such honor, ethics, and smarts that they have. My father is an architect, drafter, designer, carpenter, builder, mechanic, handyman, and many other things unofficially. He would be out building a homes by himself in weather that would range from -30 Fahrenheit to +110.  I don't know anyone like that. He would be out there working six days a week, 12 hours a day, for 30 years! He built a small empire and provided a life for his family while watching us play sports and encouraging us to push on and beyond what we think or anyone else thinks. He taught me that honor comes first. To do right by God, then family. When I was eight and getting into fights with local kids he would tell me "don't start fights and do what you can to avoid them, but if you're in danger and they are hitting you then you hit them back so hard they never think about hitting you again.-Stand up for yourself." or another bit when I was thinking about what I would do for the future "people need three things: food, clothing, and shelter. If you can come up with something that has to do with those and you work harder at it then everyone else, you can succeed." I called him one time and complained about life and how frustrated I was and he said "remember that movie? Two mice are in a bowl of milk and swimming to stay afloat, the one gives up and drowns, the other keeps moving his arms and eventually churns the milk into butter. You just have to keep moving forward."

He would never let me complain, never let me quit. The margin for error was slim with him, and even failing at something was grounds for a stern look of disappointment in his eyes. But that encouraged me to do better and achieve greater results. He always leads the way and has my back. After working a 12 hour day in 100 degree temperatures, he would come home to help me with my math. He would make me sit at the table with him for three hours as I struggled through algebra.

He taught me how to change a tire, build a house, make a square cut, pour concrete, make a budget, how to succeed and to never quit. Be relentless and go the extra mile. He taught me with his actions, not so much words. He has never been big on conversation, he's a quintessential Norwegian. Strong as a bull-moose, level-headed, hard worker, relentless, God fearing, and he has never given a damn what people think.

Doesn't smoke, drink, or curse. If God ever came down to earth in human form again, it'd be in the form of my father. The devil himself is afraid of him. Death has tried to take him several times and failed. I believe death is now afraid of him. He is the embodiment of 300 spartans in one man. I've never seen him quit, never seen him give up, never seen him fail. He is all that is man.

And my mom. I could say many of the same things. She is strong, relentless, hard-nosed, determined, smart, and absolutely detests wickedness. She's also incredibly loving, supportive and has been there for me through thick and thin. She's always encouraged me and driven me to succeed. To be positive no matter what. Ever I've known her (26 years now), she's been rising at 4:00 AM to run anywhere from 3-10 miles in the morning through rain, sun, snow, and every imaginable temperature. Followed by a workout, cooking, cleaning, getting the house and all of us ready for the day then taking us wherever we needed to be. She's the perfect and highest embodiment of determination and the relentless pursuit of the spirit. Death tried to take her a couple of times and like my father, she whooped death.

As I write this I feel myself becoming overwhelmed with thoughts of her and her accomplishments and realize I cannot adequately describe them or her like she deserves. All I can say is no other woman has worked like her. She's been a law-student, home-maker, olympic athlete, pillar of strength that's kept the family together in times of hardship, and is simply the most amazing woman on the planet. I am so blessed by God to have such amazing and wonder parents!

My older sister is an engineer and just a brilliant one at that! She is so smart it's ridiculous! She is the perfect embodiment of my parents: smart, beautiful, hard-working, independent, and doesn't give a damn what anyone thinks. She's always been there for me and has never had a problem being brutally honest with me even when I didn't want her to be haha!

She's a former drill-team girl, newspaper columnist, dancer, athlete, and now engineer, fisherman, hunter, and rancher.

My older brother is the strongest, most ablest, kindest, and sincerest person I've ever known. I'd get into fights a lot when I was younger and he'd always have my back! Ok, not really! He enjoyed seeing me get into trouble haha! But he would step in when he really had to. I played sports with him like basketball, hockey, soccer, baseball, even gymnastics! I've always looked up to him because no matter how good I was at something he was always better! I still haven't played against someone as good as him in basketball or hockey! Other than my father, he is my inspiration!

One year in baseball I would brag to my friends that my brother had a size 15 shoe, and he was only a freshman in highschool. Yeah they didn't think it was that cool, but I did. Everyone falls in love with him too, and growing up was a real problem for me haha! Girls would always swoon over him, and my friends wanted to be like him.

Today, he struggles with anxiety and depression unfortunately. And I would give anything and will continue to work as hard as I can to help him. It's terribly upsetting and is one of the few things that makes me really sad.

After him comes me, followed by my younger sister.

She's only a year younger so we've always spent a lot of time together. She's always been stubborn, incredibly smart, driven, and curious. Not too mention she's also beautiful! If I didn't lose my friends to my brother's influence, I'd lose them to her looks. We were super close growing up and shared/did everything together.

She's now married, pursuing a nursing degree, and living a good life!

Next comes my other sister who is now a senior in highschool! Her and my next youngest sister are closer in age than the rest of us so there has always been a disconnect between us four older ones and them two. But she is also very beautiful and is more introverted. She's incredibly smart too, in fact so smart it's like she's a copy of my oldest sister! She reads constantly, succeeds in everything she does, and is a super well-grounded girl.

I hate to say it but I've missed out on her life so much. Because of school, work, traveling, and my own selfishness, I have missed out on much of her life. It makes me terribly sad to think that all those years are gone and shes about to go off to college. She's no longer that little girl that I used to play soccer with, the one I taught to ride a bike, to ride a four-wheeler, and told stupid jokes to. I am so ashamed of myself whenever I look at her because I know I have failed to be the brother she deserves.

Same goes with my youngest sister. She takes after my sister who is a year younger than me, rather than my oldest sister. She's more extroverted, sporty, and rocks the blonde hair. She's such a beautiful girl and probably the happiest girl I've ever met. She's always smiling, working towards something, and expressive of how she feels.

Man, my biggest regret is not living life. I have been so consumed by wickedness that I missed out on many things; two of them being my two youngest sisters. I love them with all my heart and soul and will spend the rest of my life loving them and being the best older brother I can.