Nine People

County everyone the total comes to nine. Kadizzle is one of nine children. Recently a sister passed away leaving a total of five. Looking about with nine people in one house reminds Kadizzle of a chaotic childhood. Cars were crowed and moving the tribe required the logistics of an army. It was a long time before anyone had their own bedroom. Sharing bikes, clothes, cars, food, or anything was essential. Kadizzle married a woman who was just one of two. She has no comprehension of living with a crowd since childhood. Strangely of the nine no one had more than two. We must have learned something. 

Lets review, all but one of the nine achieved a college degree. Two sisters became lawyers, one brother was a landscape architect, and the other a successful contractor. Oldest sister attended MIT and has a PHD in philosophy. As a group we have covered just about the entire world. The extended family is polluted with lawyers. All the uncles on my mothers side were lawyers along with my grandfather. Grandfather was elected mayor, and Kadizzle judge for many years. One uncle was assistant attorney general in West Virginia. Grandpa argued before the supreme court, and Uncle Jack was one of the first attorneys to take on the tobacco industry. At times members of the family were in New Zealand, Guam, Portland, Boston, Chicago, Denver, New York, Pittsburgh, and who knows where else. 

In the new generation Cheech has become a fashion designer, Erin represented countries, states, and large public entities, Kevin took over the contracting business of older brother, Fran did research for Microsoft, and Sam works with computer start ups. Somewhere in this group there is expertise for just about anything. 

One nice thing about a vast army of relatives is the ability to contact someone just about anywhere in the country. However, the stronghold is still around West Virginia, and that part of the east. 

Now the oldest is about 81, and the youngest a little over two. Going backwards the family originated in Pennsylvania, and we like to claim Ireland, but it is all hypothetical. On the mother's side the family tree goes back a long way into colonial times. On the father side it was immigrants from Europe. Germany, Ireland, and England seem to be the main heritage. Claiming to be Irish is the most fun. 

Since Kadizzle married a Jewish woman, the extended family now has a Jewish strain which has enriched the culture. Generally most of the family has not got tied closely to any religious group, which is a blessing. 

There have been some strains of crazy, and also of genius, but that is to be expected. Kadizzle likes to think there is a thin line between genius and crazy and a lot of us wander back and forth across the line.