Saturday, October 8, 2011

Therese--Sibling Submission

There is one more of the “7 Fenns” that has yet to be written about.  This one is the oldest, most married, most educated, and essentially the metaphorical “glue” of the family.  That’s right, I am talking about Therese.  Although she was a little embarrassed with our last name so she went and changed it to Gerlits, she could have at least put a hyphen in there or something but oh well, not the point.  Therese has been the one that each of us has turned to when we were in need of advice.  She usually had a sound mind and had the ability to give us advice both from a family perspective, as well as an outsider looking in.  And we love her for it.  She has been a surrogate mother to us when our real mother left.  She was all of our games, matches, organized study sessions for those still in high school, and even let her little brother into her home for 9 months until he went off to college.  This woman even moved back into her parent’s house after she graduated from college just to take care of those of us who were still there, thus you have the stairwell story where she screamed. 
Although it probably wasn’t her first choice, she became that mother figure in our lives that we needed.  When we did something wrong, she was there both to scold us like a parent, as well as make fun of us like an older sister would.  If we ever need an escape to get away from everything, we know we can call her up and she’ll have an empty room and a full plate waiting for us.  She never asks for much from us, with the exception of the occasional hauling and stacking wood, frequently house/dog sitting on a weekend, walking the dogs, or even just to come over and make a fool of ourselves on her new dance game on the Wii.  I truly don’t believe we would be how we are today if it weren’t for her.  From relationship advice, fashion advice, FAFSA, financial aid, what classes to take, when to apply for this, stop touching that; she’s always there for us.  Even though we don’t say it nearly enough, thank you for all you do.  
Another submission from Paddy in Kuwait.