Feeling: lucky
Listening to: Zero 7 - Distractions
Reading/Watching: ER

Doode. Having a huge family is frickin' amazing.

It can be daunting, trying to remember birthdays, ages, sometimes even names for my forty-three first cousins. When I rattle off the list of my nine aunts, five uncles, and all their spouses (although they are campaigning to have the word changed to "spice") and offspring, it tends to make eyebrows raise. I don't even attempt to tackle my parents' cousins and their children. The list of wedding guests is frightening in the extreme.

But still, there is something to be said for having that many people behind you when you need someone to help you out. I didn't have a large cheering section at my graduation, but I did get a tidy pile of cards and checks, and when I was in the hospital, the number of flower bouquets in my room was hilarious.

And now that I'm getting married, all my family members with cool hidden talents (or sometimes, not-so-hidden) are coming out of the woodwork, offering to help, not waiting for me to ask.

My mother's three sisters are all pitching in every wedding decoration saved from when their daughters got married, so I have miles of tulle, strings of lights, and little glass candle holders coming from everywhere. My aunt Mary specializes in turning a wedding invitation into the decoration for a carved handmade candle, which usually poses as the unity candle for the dutiful Catholics among us. She is also making my veil. We went shopping to pick a color and length, and now she's going to put it together, because she is just awesome and crafty like that.

One of my cousins is a florist, and is going to take care of flowers for me, charging me wholesale prices and doing all the labor for free. She's being very patient while I change my mind every week, and change my color scheme at least once a month. Through all this, she's taken notes on my new ideas, and hasn't tried to strangle me even once.

Another cousin is a photographer, and she won't let me pay her to do our wedding photos. She just wants to give them to us for free. (It makes me want to marry her, a little bit, if it weren't illegal in two ways.)

Then, today, when I was asking my brother Maffrew's wife who she used for her wedding cake four years ago, she just up and offered to make our wedding cake for us. This, while I'm in the midst of price shopping and comparing and freaking out because the pastry chef wants how much per slice for a layered pile of flour and sugar? Let me mention, my sister-in-law is an amazing cook (last year I think a fight started over the last serving of her grand marnier spiced sweet potatoes), and she's already sending me pictures of different styles she can do, and offering to bring samples to Thanksgiving dinner.

Now, I contribute to this big circle-o-bridal-love, don't think I'm a total mooch. I've helped arrange flowers, decorate reception halls, and, obviously, I've sung for every single one of my cousins' weddings. I can't knit a wedding dress yet (kinda stalled out on scarves), but I pitch in where I can.

This is why I encourage everyone to have large families: bear numerous children, and then tell your children to continue the trend. Screw overpopulation, think strength in numbers. Bring everyone together every Christmas, let them become friends, and let the reciprocity begin. It's quite fantastic, really.

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