What Makes Up a Tribe?
“Dude, you smacked me right in the face!”, Brandon bellows at Austin as they mimicked dancing to banjo and fiddle music all over the living room. Arms were flailing in the air and legs were kicking dangerously near the heads of those seated nearby. In between hysterical laughter, I twinged inside – waiting for a lamp or someone’s limb to break. Naturally, we continued to cheer them on and the two of them didn’t disappoint their audience. That’s when Austin’s free-swinging, happy arm backhanded Brandon right in the face. We tried to act concerned – honest – but it was too stinkin’ funny not to give in to hysterics.
By the way, Brandon is 29, married, and a father of three.
Austin is 23 and happily married.
Boys never really grow up. I just thought I should warn you. You’re welcome.
Still – this is my Tribe…
…and I love them all with their quirks, strong opinions that often have no circumstantial evidence, and escalating voice volumes as they compete with each other for the floor.
A “tribe” is defined as a community or family linked (whether they like it or not) by social, religious, and other ties that I will leave out because the definition goes on for several sentences.
That’s us!
The exciting part of belonging to a family is that we are so different but are vitally connected. Sure, there are blaring traits that run in a family, like the fact that all the Felty men love to debate every miniscule topic and not one of them admits they are ever wrong. However, there are the little morsels of uniqueness that keep us guessing.
Let’s Meet a Few of the Feltys!
Andy –my husband and BFF, who is often heard exclaiming in frustration, “Seriously?!” and knows a little about every subject under the sun – or fakes it extremely well.
Austin – analytical, stubborn, and often over-cautious, while having a gentle soul and fabulous work ethics. He lives for the next gaming session after work (usually with his brother, Brandon, who joins him in yelling at the games much to their wives’ frustration)
Jasmine – Austin’s gentle and soft-spoken soul mate who has a helpless addiction to Rae Dunn pottery and new phone cases.
Brandon – who insists on using FaceTime at the worst times when I haven’t fixed my hair or am in the middle of something, full of creative energy that he throws into writing and – his personal favorite – arguing with anyone in the room with him.
Tavia – Brandon’s partner-in-crime who appears to others to be meek and timid but is the mastermind behind most of Brandon’s schemes. She is also the awesome “mommy” to my three irresistible grandbabies.
Sara – nurturing, loyal, and the hands-down favorite torture target of her brothers. She can go from sniffling over a heart-wrenching bestseller book to an exciting shopping trip in the short time it takes her to get off the couch.
There are more I could add to the Tribe’s roll call but that gives you a good start.
Now that you have met some of the characters in the Felty family novel, stay tuned for more adventures unfolding in the future posts right here at…
“It’s a Felty Thing…”