I have three older brothers and one younger sister. They're spread out across the continent from coast to coast, as so many families are nowadays.

My oldest brother lives in the interior of B.C. I don't see or hear much of him but I always looked up to him, growing up. He's a very meticulous artist and has been making his living in stained glass for years. Does beautiful work and I have one of his stained glass pieces hanging in our living room window. Makes me often think of him.

My next oldest brother lives in Vermont, U.S. He started out, as a teenager, working as a deck hand or some other bottom rung job like that for the coast guard in B.C. He worked his way up all the way from that to being a captain of a shipping tanker on the Great Lakes. It's impressive, not just anyone can do that. I also think often of him.

Luckily, my next oldest brother lives not too far from me so I can see him more often. He's also a gifted artist, I would call him a natural. We like a lot of the same things so I'm always happy being together with him, whenever we can. We are fortunate to have a couple of his works hanging on our wall.

That leaves my younger sister and, luckily, she also lives not too far away. She was adopted into our family and I can still clearly remember, like yesterday, when my parents brought her home. I was 10 years old at the time and actually had to go to school that day, it was really the same as sending a kid to school on Christmas day, I was so excited. I came home for lunch break that day and there she was. I just remember it so clearly. She's a born farm woman and a hard worker.

Well, I'm thankful for my family and thy're all often in my thoughts and prayers. I'm glad to have three brothers and a sister. May God bless them.