My family is bigger than most. There are eleven of us, all living, and no two remotely alike. The Sullivan siblings were born between 1952 and 1968, at a time when large families were pretty common, especially at our Catholic school of St Edward Parish in Newark, California. Phillip Andrew and I are the two born closest together, with just twelve months and three weeks separating our births.

Mom and Dad

I think of our mother, God rest her soul. Esther Marie Sullivan brought this noisy, checkered brood into the world. She spent 99 months of her life pregnant. Dad kept us all in line with a sarcastic wisdom and the occasional back of the hand. We all grew up together in a house that we didn’t know was too small for us. Stacked in the back of our station wagon like cord wood, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way. And, somehow, we managed to become very different from each other as adults. Sporting every color combination of hair and eyes, the Sullivans all had similar features. We all have the same laugh, and, for the most part, the same Irish temper. Thank you, Dad.

Together, Come What May

Over the years, we Sullivans have been nurses, roofers, bus drivers, hair stylists, bar band musicians, teachers, and financial consultants. Along our chosen journeys we have known homelessness and prosperity. We are, variously, free-spirited, depressed, nurturing, smart mouthed, bi-polar, artsy, addicted, and lavishly gifted in music. It’s a glorious tapestry of humanity, my family. Every summer we gather for a family reunion beneath the beautiful redwoods at Big Sur. No matter what life changes transpire in the months between, early August is the time of the great migration down Coast Highway 1, and we are all together again.

Michael

Tomorrow is the birthday of our youngest brother, Michael. My heart is full of love for him as I think of his place within our tribe. He has had a rough time, and this has caused a certain level of distance between him and the rest of us. As my eyes search the tattered list of family names, I think of all of my brothers and sisters, their spouses, children, and grandchildren. All of our addresses and phone numbers are there.

I need to call Mike.