Christmas morning like waking up in a toy store

With a four-year-olds' anticipation, I walked into my new house to meet my new family. My mom and new dad had met a month earlier and decided that they were a match made in heaven. Each having five children of their own, we were now a family of 12. My two brothers; Ted and Ric; my two sister, Debi and Tami, myself and my mom had been on our own since my dad died when I was very young.

I remember walking in the front door and seeing my new brother; Jeff, and my four new sisters; Pam, Bev, Sheila and Lynn. My sister Debi was always my constant, and I nervously walked hand-in-hand with her close by. One of my new sister, Bev, stood out the most. She had dark hair, red pants, a pink frilly blouse and a warm welcoming smile.

We all moved into a four-bedroom house. A tight fit, but we made it work. My little brother, Ric and sister Lyn, shared one room. It was like having a sleep-over every night. We had so much fun. We didn't have a lot of money, but we never were in need of anything. My dad worked at a paper mill and my mom had her hands full taking care of all of us.

You would think that dinner time would be a time of total chaos, but it actually ran, as my mom put it, "a tightly run ship." The occasional spaghetti noodle on the ceiling, and the one time only fork stabbing (you shouldn't reach across your sister's plate while she's eating!) Things were good. We even had a dining room table that fit all 12 of us. Pretty incredible, huh?

My parents were very creative. In our bedroom, we had a three story bunkbed. Me, being the oldest of the younger three, got the top bunk. We had arts and crafts a lot. My favorite was finger-painting on the wallpaper.

Christmas at our house was something that I think most people dream of. We were sent to bed early after cookies and milk were set out for Santa Claus. It was had falling asleep. My sister, brother and I stayed up late giggling and laughing, excited about what was to come. We awoke the next morning to the smell of breakfast cooking. Yum!

Still in our pajamas, we headed downstairs. It was unbelievable! We had packages with bright ribbons. Dolls and bicycles. Wagons, toy trains and so many stuffed animals. Even our stockings were bulging at the seams. Candy canes, nuts and tangerines. My sister, Tami, had a real life puppy peeking out of the top of her stocking. Almost everything that we ever received was homemade with a lot of tender loving care.

I don't know if it was my age that made my family so much my family. My sister, Lynn, just three months younger than me, was my best friend growing up. Now, I don't even know where she lives.

My little brother, Ric, the brat, turned out to be pretty cool. He made us proud. He was over in Iraq, fighting for our country. He is home now and we keep in touch.

Ted, my best high school buddy, and the great investor, and Tami, my personal hero, workaholic and firefighter, and I are still very close. We stay in touch with each others goings on.

Pam, Bev, Sheila and Jeff have their own busy lives now. We don't keep in touch anymore, but I hope that they realize how much each of them meant to me. I've lost touch with my sister, Debi, she went her way, I went mine. It's just better that way.

I love my whole family, all six of my sisters and all three of my brothers, and especially my mom and dad, for without them, "We" wouldn't be. And I hope that even for a moment, every person could feel the feeling that I had walking down those stairs that Christmas morning.

Jami Warmerdam
Lodi