A family of tigers....hear us roar.

      Our family.   We have 3 grown kids....all great, independent, responsible, smart, caring and as different from each other as can be.  We are terribly proud of all of them.
      Kate, our daughter, is the youngest and lives here in the same city as we do.  It is nice having her so close-by.   She's a talented writer/on-line media/editor for a University.   She is witty, sings in the Colorado Chorale, and has a contagious laugh.  She loves to travel and travels the world. 
     Ben, middle child, lives in the Chicago area and works in theater.  He runs lights, sound, builds sets, and is all-round brilliant and handy;  maybe it is the former boyscout in him.  He also works for a local college, plus sub-contracts elsewhere in the city.  He can figure out anything and has a dry wit.
     Jason, the oldest, is married and also lives in the Chicago area.  He's a family practice/sports medicine doctor, and runner and golfer.  He is married to Kuldeep, a biochemist and runner.  They have 2 kids, our wonderful grandkids, Sydney (9), and Alex (7) who like sports, music, video games, reading, horses, jokes, and all the usual kid things.  They all have wonderful senses of humor, as well.
      I blame all of their senses of humor and wit on Dean who is very "Punny".  Everyone who has ever met him remembers him for the groaners he tells, and his retorts ("Doh!", or "Oh, yeah?").  He makes us laugh.  He always has made me laugh.
    Family...ours has been very supportive, especially since Dean's diagnosis.  I don't know what we'd do without them.  They are our life. 
     We have a large extended family, as well.  My parents, 5 brothers and their families, Dean's brother and his family, plus a few cousins and an aunt with whom he remains close.   Most live in Nebraska.
     Which brings me to my Mom.   My family was a farm family, and my siblings and I were country kids; country mice, if you will.  When it was time to switch from rural school to school in town,  we were understandably quiet and reserved.  Every morning when we headed out the lane to catch the school bus my Mom would remind us to "Be a Tiger!"  And we'd roll our eyes and respond, "Oh, Mom!"
     My Mom has survived 2 bouts of lymphoma, the last one being much more serious.  I gave her the stuffed Tigger pictured above prior to her going into surgery, to remind her to "be a tiger".  And she was, just as she always has been, and came through just fine.  During Dean's radiation therapy when he was starting to feel down, she sent him the Tigger, so he could remember to be a tiger, too.  And he is.  We are a family of tigers...hear us roar.

"Be a Tiger!"..........Mom