Quotes About Family

People kept looking at Janine and then looking at me. I could just tell they were all thinking, I can't believe you're sisters. Then they would ignore me and congratulate Janine.

All of a sudden it dawned on me. I knew. I just knew. I was adopted, and my adoption papers were in there. If I were adopted, that would explain why I didn't look like anyone in my family, why I didn't act like anyone in my family, and why there were so few pictures of me. I wasn't Mom and Dad's real kid. I was an unwanted baby, or an orphan like Emily Michelle.

I was sure Grandmother Madden would like that.

Parents are just older weirdos doing the best they can.

I knew he needed to get out of Connecticut, but couldn't he see what he was doing to our family? It was bad enough that Mom and Dad were divorced. Still, Mom and Jeff and I managed to seem like a little family. If Jeff left, it would be hard to think of Mom and me as a family. I love my mom, but I knew that the two of us were going to feel like the ends of a loaf of bread, with all the other slices gone. I wanted at least one more slice. And Mom was going to let it go.

Daddy nodded and took a deep breath. "We can do both," he said.

My sister and I went downstairs together.

Janine shook her head. Then she stomped into the house. "Mean Janine," I muttered. "Come on, Jamie. Let's go." Janine had spoiled my whole afternoon.

Is Janine home?" "She's in Liberia," Steve said. "Siberia," I corrected him. "And she's not there, anyway. Really. She's just busy, Jerry.

Can we visit her tonight?" I asked. "May we?" Janine, Mom, and Dad all corrected me at once.

Aunt Cecelia would have pulled a tissue out of her sleeve, but I let Becca be sloppy.)

Brother's Day

I really love Courtie and I love Leigh too, I guess. After all, she'd been my stepmother for five years then ever since I was 11, and she'd seen my older brother, Mike and me through some hard times. But Leigh and I had always clashed, especially over Courtenay. See, Leigh didn't quite trust me. We got off on the right foot and never seemed to get on the right one, at least not for long.

she'd taken a leave of absence when Squirt was born).

Mike and I have lived with Dad every since my mom took off when she was 7. They got divorced a year later. I love my mom and I know she loves Mike and me. Of course, I haven't seen her in ages, but that's just because she's such a creative person and creative people need space. At least, some of them do.

What I didn't figure was that I'd be eating dinner with the Stepsister from the Black Lagoon.

There are several other members of my family — but they're not people. We've got a puppy named Shannon — she's a Bernese mountain dog, and she's going to be huge some day. And Boo-Boo is Watson's cat. He's old and fat and kind of mean — but he's still part of the family. Plus, Karen and Andrew have two goldfish, Crystal Light the Second and Goldfishie.

Now my parents are divorced and I live in Connecticut with my mom and brother, but my dad still lives in California. All in all, I've flown back and forth across the country eleven times.

That's what happens when your parents want you to be a physicist.)

every other weekend. He can be a pain, so I don't mind this too much.)

I thought of Joey and Nate. Had they been happy babies too or had they always been nervous and shy? I had a feeling I knew the answer. Their personalities probably had a lot to do with the environment they'd grown up in. Mr. Nicholls was not exactly the sweet, loving, supportive type of parent I was used to, but I didn't want to judge him. I knew he was probably raising his kids the way he believed was right. Every parent has different ideas about how to bring up good kids.

Brian Williams, whom Mal knew slightly, who was playing with toy trucks in his front yard while his mother sat on the porch steps with his baby brother. Mal waved to Mrs. Williams and called hello to Brain.

I looked at Andrew and at Nannie. I loved them and the rest of my family very much. I loved my friends too. For now that was enough love for me.

Mrs. Thomas dropped Kristy off at Watson's