Close?

When people ask me if I'm close to (or with) my family I don't really know how to answer.

My sibs (brother & sister) and I are stair-steps; all born within three calendar years. We probably got in each others way and on each others nerves. We did most everything together until we hit double digits. It could be that the best thing that ever happened to us was to go our separate ways. It probably made us closer.

This is pretty much it, give or take a few family members.

What does it even mean to be close to your family?

Maybe that question can be answered with a rather glib, "Well if you have to ask, you're probably not." And maybe this essay is making it seem like I'm not. So let me put it this way.

There is no inner-familial drama between my siblings and I. In other words, we're all on speaking terms, on visiting terms, on helping each other out terms, and we don't argue over who Mom's favorite is. We are all very much individuals despite having grown up so close together. We don't do family reunions because our family is so small that whenever my sibs, and our kids get together for dinner or a birthday, that's pretty much the whole family. We're not disunited enough to need a family reunion.

And maybe that's the answer. Yes, I am close to, and/or with my family. I think the question seemed as difficult to me as if you'd asked a fish if he felt wet. I've never not been close to my family so the question seemed meaningless to me.

I'm glad I write these thoughts out, it's cathartic and revealing.