Good night John Boy

I liked the TV show the Walton's. We are the Feltons and we live in the mountains, also, but do not confuse us with them.  Not that anyone ever would. May is always a big family month for our family.  It is Mom and Dad's Anniversary, the TWINS birthday, Mother's Day, Rob and Deb's Anniversary and usually someones graduation. This has been a fairly typical May so far. Last week end we celebrated Mom and Dad's anniversary with a party but before a go any further everyone needs a little background on the Felton family.  I tried to make things simple having just one child and one husband.  My brothers never make anything simple. My friend Julie told me that this life is not meant to be simple for me, something about me having something to learn in this life, being in a previous life with her and the significance of being born on the side of the road in a ditch.  I keep telling her I was born in a car but she doesn't listen any better than my brothers.  So back to my brothers who have more than one wife and more than one child. We are very much a blended family with ex's, and present spouses, her kids, my kids, our kids, the new spouses of the ex's. Everything makes perfect sense to me but I have been present for all the weddings, births, divorces and showers. This blended thing goes pretty smooth until David gives a Best Man toast at a wedding and congratulates the Groom and the ex-wife.  One of my brothers did not find this too amusing and thought David did it on purpose, but I knew better.  David has done dumb shit like this his entire life. Anyway, these stories make for good entertainment at family gatherings and for my blog. I feel a little sorry for new members who marry into this family trying to figure everything out but if you choose to stick around after the first family gathering I basically consider you on your own. I try to attend all family events because I would be the topic of conversation if I wasn't there and David has the wonderful ability to rewrite history today (always making him look good) just as he did when we were four. So last week end was the anniversary party for Mom and Dad.  This week end was the graduation party for Kayla and Lindsey. They both received their Masters Degrees from WVU.  So we had a blended family party today. Plus Kayla made David and I birthday cakes. Mine was a beach scene with flip flops, beach towel and a shark.  David's was a stupid golf course. Every year David buys my gift before I buy him one so he can announce to everyone  that he has a gift for me and I have none for him, which then forces me to buy him a really good gift. Feltons are loud and argumentative, too. This makes for interesting family gatherings. We do share a love of food and desserts. Sometimes I have wished for a Walton type of family but it just doesn't seem to be in the cards for me. Justin's girlfriend, Cassie, was looking at family photos the other day and wanted to know why David always got gifts on my birthday.  Cassie fits right into this family.  She gets it. She understands that it is all about me. Something my brothers still don't get. I wonder what those new members think at their first Felton gathering but they seem to come back.  It is kind of like watching a slow train wreck, but with good food. So here we are at the middle of May and only a few more family gatherings this month. Oh, I forgot about the Memorial Day family picnic.