dedication to family

As an African i think it should not be surprising to any any one familiar with the culture that family is a very important part of my life but to be it goes beyond just the the  typical  and that's while i dedicate my first official update to writing about this beautiful and wonderful group of persons i call family.I grew up in  quite a typical African family giving the size and  the fact that it was quite extended ,however this family of mine is not going to be your typical or conventional family so to say.Growing it up i was one of the smallest among many people i was later to refer to as family and while i have so much respect for them today is that i look back and cant help but think that i would not be the person that I am today if not for this beautiful people from whom i learnt about every facet of my innocent child hood memories.giving that at some points in time we numbered above twenty in a town house yet manged not be be dysfunctional i say big ups to our father Sir. Sebastian Ukor Ayem (ksj) who is not only a father but a friend  mentor and role model, but keeping this group of people some of whom were total strangers from different parts of the world won't have been a success only with His efforts so i say well done to Uncles and Aunties who did smack me (yes we are Africans) lol  without those i  think i would have drifted far away from this straight path long ago. Not to say i am perfect or the family for that matter but from them i was able to mirror society at a tender age and  and   yes just like every child hood they were some not so flattering moment but we lived through them and grew from it.
           I remember vividly my behavior towards my siblings (those that came before me) how i was  stubborn and disrespectful yet  what they had for me was not resentment but  but the desire to help  shape this little one "me" into what they thought was good for me. i rebelled like many a teenager  when i reached that  stage yet they never shoved me away , for to them that was just another phase of life, the then sibling rivalry   has today made me aware of what healthy competition is and the fact that i soon learnt that those siblings elder siblings of mine were indeed people whom  deserved my respect has to today had a positive impact on how i treat those i see i as elders in the society, the fact that i lived and grew up in such a big house with diverse and varying personalities  has helped shaped the way live in the much bigger and quicker to judge society today and today so far i seem to be handling my business just  fine as a young man.
            PS i earlier mentioned about the unconventional family because though we had so many fun childhood memories i really don't understand today while we unlike many families have no photo memories of them, because i don't remember a burning house but hey we moved a lot though both parents were not in the military lol. love u Guys. stay blessed and remain fly Gil-b