The Fam

So I have a couple of things to talk about and I was deciding between talking about the newest members of my fam or talking about my friend Hayley.  But, I decided that I don’t want to be dramatic quite yet, and I’ll save that for later…  Really Hayley drama as of late could be a multi-part series.  Is that bad?  I promise I’m totally not this dramatic on a regular basis!  I’m actually pretty calm, which you’ve probably seen from this blog, or at least I hope so.

In any case, I decided to talk about my Fam, since a few new members will be joining it soon.

So, I can’t trace my Fam back very far, only to my Grand Big,   My Grand Big got married right out of college, I think her husband is about my age.  Anyway, she wasn’t originally my Grand Big, but she was by the time I knew her.  Her first Little is actually my dear friend Allie.    Some time after Spring 2006, when Allie joined and before Spring 2007, when I joined, my Grand Big, Arlene, adopted my Big, Erika.

I didn’t get to know my Grand Big very well because she was a senior when I was a freshman, and we had deferred recruitment when I joined.  So, I only really had a semester to get to know her.  But before Songfest my freshman year, I was at the house and I needed help with my hair and she helped me tease and pouf it.  It was a little moment of bonding that I really appreciated.

I mentioned my Big once before in conjunction with a little story about my freshman year.  Erika was a junior when I joined the house.  She had a soft spot for taking on Littles, I think.  I was her fourth, and by the time she graduated, she would have five.  Her Littles are:

• Molly, her first Little/my sort of older sibling (Spring 2006):  She had taken a year off when I joined, and would eventually transfer after my sophomore year.
• Renee, her second little/my former older sibling (also Spring 2006, though I think she was COB and not the formal pledge class): She ended up dropping over an unfortunate snafu, and so her branch of the family ended up being adopted by Becky (who ended up serving as the connection between me and Evan).
• Lizzy, her third Little/my older sibling (Fall 2006, informal recruitment):  She and I were the only ones to stay through our graduation dates that were originally Erika’s Littles.  Therefore, I don’t have anything specific to say about her as to why our fam ended up smaller than originally.
• Me, her fourth Little (Spring 2007)
• Kristin, her fifth Little/my adopted twin (also Spring 2007):  My Big Erika eventually ended up adopting my friend Kristin in Spring 2008 when Kristin’s Big dropped.  So Kristin and I are kind of twins, since we are from the same pledge class, but not quite.

I’ve spent a lot of time with my Big, so I don’t necessarily need to recount all my experiences here.  And at the end, I’ll talk more about the family tree.

So in my branch of the Fam, I come after my Big, obviously.  I have three Littles:

• Lilac, my first Little (Spring 2008):  She ended up graduating two years early, before me, even.  She was very driven, but I think she’s a bit burnt out these days.  She ended up having two Littles.
• Stacey, one of my twins (Fall 2008):  She is also graduating early, so I feel for her Little.
• Rebekah, one of my twins (Fall 2008):  She ended up dropping last year, but I still consider her a member of my family.

Lilac ended up having two Littles, both of whom were also twins:

• Briana, my Grand Little (Fall 2008): She and Lilac are actually the same age, but Briana decided to wait until her Sophomore year to go through recruitment.  She ended up having two Littles.
• Kirby, my Grand Little (Fall 2008):  She ended up transferring mid-way through my Senior year.

Briana’s Littles as follows:

• Joey, her first Little/my Great-Grand Little (Fall 2009):  She ended up dropping by the end of my Senior year as well.
• Amber, her second Little/my Great Grand-Little (Fall 2010):  She’s my newest Great-Grand Little, but she won’t know that until Sunday.

Stacey’s Little:

• Sandy, my Grand Little (Fall 2010):  She’s my newest Grand Little, but she also won’t know that until Sunday.

Anyway, I’ve gone shopping for the newest members of the Fam.  The weekend after they find out that they’re in the Fam, I’ll be up for Centennial, so I’ll get to meet them.  I’ll actually be up this Saturday (more on that later), but they won’t know they’re in my Fam yet, so being introduced to a random member’s Big or Grand Big would be a bit suspect.  Anyway, I decided to get them both a frame and have us all take a picture together before the dinner on Friday night.  Then I’ll put the picture in the frame and it will be an adorable momento of the Fam.  I’m also getting some fun sunglasses for them, because you can never have enough fun sorority stuff.  I thought about shirts, but I don’t know their sizes and really, in the end, they’ll walk away with like forty shirts, so why add to it?  I’m also getting myself some stuff, but that’s not important here.  I’m really excited to meet them both, it will make Centennial that much better for me.

So, I’d said I’d run through the rest of my family and, I guess, their relation to me.  So here goes:

• Arlene (Fall 2003): my Grand Big
  • Erika (Fall 2004): my Big
  • • Molly (Spring 2006):  my sort of older sibling who transferred.
      • Nicole (COB Spring 2007):  Molly’s adopted Little, my Niece.
        • Leigh (Fall 2008):  Nicole’s Little, my Great-Niece, she has since dropped.
          • Lidia (Fall 2009):  Leigh’s Little, my Great-Great-Niece.  I don’t know if anyone has adopted her since Leigh dropped, though, so she may not be in my family anymore, or she could still recognize Leigh as her Big, but not necessarily recognize the family line.
            • Joey (Fall 2010):  Lidia’s Little, my Great-Great-Great-Niece.  She won’t find out Lidia is her Big until Sunday, though.
      • Lilac (Spring 2007):  Molly’s adopted Little, my Niece.
      • Lisa (Spring 2008):  Molly’s first non-adopted Little, my former Niece.  She has since transferred.
  • • Renee (COB Spring 2006): My former older sibling.
      • Julie (Spring 2007): My former Niece, but she was adopted by Becky.  She does have a Little, but she got her after she was adopted, so I won’t include the rest of their family line here.
  • • Lizzy (Fall 2006):  My older sibling.
      • Jenny (Fall 2008): My former Niece, but she transferred.
  • • Me (Spring 2007)
      • Lilac (spring 2008)
        • Briana (Fall 2008)
          • Joey (Fall 2009): dropped
          • Amber (Fall 2010)
        • Kirby (Fall 2008): transferred
      • Stacey (Fall 2008)
        • Sandy (Fall 2010)
      • Rebekah (Fall 2008): dropped
  • • Kristin (Spring 2007): My adopted twin
      • Catherine (Spring 2008): Kristin’s first Little, my Niece
        • Stephanie (Fall 2008):  My Great-Niece.
          • Stacey (Fall 2010): My Great-Great Niece.  She will find out she is Stephanie’s Little on Sunday.
      • Lara (Spring 2008): Kristin’s adopted Little, my former Niece.  She has since dropped.
      • Larissa (Fall 2008): My Niece, part of Kristin’s set of twins.
        • Jaden (Fall 2009): My Great-Niece.
          • Renee (Fall 2010): My Great-Great-Niece.  She will find out she is Jaden’s Little on Sunday.
      • Nicole (Fall 2008): My former Niece, part of Kristin’s set of twins.  She has since dropped.

Here is my extended family:

• Arlene (Fall 2003): My Grand Big
  • Allie (Spring 2006):  My Aunt.
    • Katherine (Fall 2006): Allie’s first Little, my former cousin.  She has since dropped.
    • Stacey (Spring 2007): Allie’s second Little, my cousin.
      • Alexis (Fall 2008):  Part of Stacey’s set of twins, my second cousin.
        • Diane (Fall 2010): My third cousin.  She won’t find out that she’s Alexis’ Little until Sunday.
      • Kate (Fall 2008):  Part of Stacey’s set of twins, my second cousin.
        • Amy (Fall 2009): My third cousin.
          • Audrey (Fall 2010): My fourth cousin.  She won’t find out that she’s Amy’s Little until Sunday.
    • Betsy (Fall 2008):  Allie’s third Little, my cousin.
      • Shea (Fall 2009): My second cousin.
        • Blaire (Fall 2010):  My third cousin.  She won’t find out she’s Shea’s Little until Sunday.

So, yup, I have a pretty large Fam all in all, but my branch has gotten a bit small.  I still love them all bunches though!