My Family in the '90s

As I mentioned in the subtitle of this blog, I turned 12 in 1990. But what of the rest of my family? Here is a rundown of what age everyone turned in 1990:

Mum: 42
Dad: 41
Rob: 18
Jenny: 17
Amy: 15
Sara: 14
Mary: 11
Emily: 4

My parents:
Mum and Dad celebrated their 19th anniversary on March 27, 1990. The '90s were a great time of change for them (hence the many places we lived in during this decade). All of our moves followed Dad's job changes. He started the decade as a customs officer working at the Canada/US border in Del Bonita and Coutts while we were living in Raymond. He also spent three months away from us (visiting every third weekend) in Quebec attending Customs College.
He bounced around for a while in the federal government until he finally ended up with the High Level Tribal Council (now known as the North Peace Tribal Council). Mum and Dad handled having six teenagers during the '90s remarkably well. It's really nothing short of miraculous that we turned out as well as we did and mostly stayed out of trouble, especially since we were constantly being uprooted and forced to make new friends every year or so. They always had our welfare in mind, and they dealt with us fairly and as friends, not just as their children.

We kept them busy. Of their seven children, Emily was the only one who didn't graduate high school in the '90s, and they had two weddings to deal with, too.

I don't have a lot of pictures of my mother from the '90s (she always seemed to be behind the camera), but I did find this one from my high school graduation:
Rob:
I only have one brother, and he is six years older than me with three girls between us. It was hard for us to relate with one another at times, with him being an '80s teenager and me being a '90s teenager, but we had our own unique relationship which I look back on with fondness. In the early '90s, Rob was significantly larger than me (18 compared to 12, remember), and he would use the advantage of his size to play games with me. "The Iron Bolt" seemed to be his favourite. Basically, he would clasp his hand around my wrist and hold on until he got tired of it or until I relented and said the magic word: mercy. I usually ended up saying mercy. Rob has admirable determination. When we lived in Lethbridge, it was one of the rare instances that we shared a room. We had a bunk bed. His bed was, of course, the top bunk. He called it the throne bed, and he would regularly force me to bow down to it. Rob served as a missionary for the LDS Church in Illinois from late 1991 to late 1993. I was 13 when he left and 15 when he got back. Upon his return, I was also as tall as he was and just as big, if not bigger. The days of saying mercy had passed. Not that he didn't still try to get me to say it, but I never again said it.

Here we are demonstrating the inherent problem with having six years between you and your only older brother:
This picture was taken in 1990. That's a blue-suede blazer I'm wearing. In 1990. Sure, when Rob wore this in the early '80s, it was stylish and slick. I wore it in 1990. 1990. See the thin, leather, zip-up tie? Yes, it's definitely 1990. "It's a nice blazer!" my mother always replied to my objections. Yes, Mum. It's a nice blazer in 1983. You made me wear it in 1990. Also, note our stylish footwear.

The Girls:
That's right, five sisters. Jealous? Probably not, but you should be. I'm serious. Do you realize how many cute girls I met because of my sisters? But it was more than just meeting pretty girls. I had a lot of fun with all five of my sisters. As I've mentioned before, I was a very shy teenager, and my sisters were a place for me to get some socializing done and have some plain old fun. Jenny, as my oldest sister, was almost like a second mother to me. She was also a writer, so I would often discuss my writing with her. I could always count on honest, contructive feedback from her. Amy was my compassionate sister. She always made me feel good about myself, and she'd comfort me when certain other sisters were driving me insane. Sara was a protective older sister. She'd watch out for my and my younger sister, and was even known to stand up to bullies who were giving me trouble back in the '80s. And, oddly enough, there was never a negative fallout for me after having my sister come to my rescue. Sara was also one of the sisters who would sometimes drive me insane, but she wasn't the main offender. Mary was the main offender. She and I argued incessantly for years. She knew exactly how to get under my skin and didn't often turn down the opportunity to practice. It didn't last, though. When I returned home to St. Albert in 1996 after living with Aunt Joyce for a year, Mary and I didn't fight nearly as often. We basically just grew out of it. Despite the bickering while growing up, she and I were always close, and it was nice (and still is nice) to enjoy the closeness without the arguing. Then there's Emily. I have a unique relationship with Emily that I don't really have with any of my other sisters. She's eight years younger then me, and the only one of my sibling that I clearly remember being a baby (a literal baby, not the figurative kind of baby). In the early '90s, I was her big brother protector. I once threw a dog down a flight of stairs after it had bitten her (inadvertently; it was going for her hamburger) when she was four. After I finished high school (Emily would have been 10) and moved back home, it was just me, Mary, and Emily at home. Mary was a popular high school girl doing her own thing with her friends, so it was me and Emily hanging out quite a bit. As a result, Emily and I developed a lot of the same interests. We both took up bass guitar, we were both interested in writing, we both liked Star Wars, we both listened to similar music, we were both great friends with our cousin Noah. I never had any of that with my other sisters. Not to that degree, anyway.

Anyway, long story short, I loved (mostly) having five sisters. And I'm sure my wife appreciates it now, because it's thanks to my sisters that she doesn't have to nag me about leaving the toilet seat up. Here's a picture of Dad and me with the five girls in 1992 (Mum is taking the picture, and Rob is in Illinois):
And here's a picture of the girls at Christmas in 1998:
New additions:
There were four new additions to the family during the '90s. The first was my first (of many) brothers-in-law, Anders, who married Jenny in 1995. Then came Cindy, who married Rob in 1998. She was my only sister-in-law until I got married in 2004. The other two additions were my first two nephews, Jonah and Sam, who are Jenny and Anders oldest two boys. Jonah was born in 1996. Here he is pictured with me:
I've been in the exact same pose with my own boys so many times it isn't even funny. Sam came along in 1998, just three weeks before I left on my mission. Here he is, pictured with me again:
That's Amy making the cool face in the background.