'Normal' is a relative term for families

What makes a family normal?

Recently my best friend's mother said that I couldn't say anything negative about her or her family because of how my own family is dysfunctional. That got me thinking about all of my family members. What is considered normal? What is considered dysfunctional?

In the movie "Mona Lisa Smile," the characters were discussing art. What makes art "art" and who decides whether something is art or whether it is just trash? One of the women said "the right people" do this. The question is, who are the right people?

My family, to me, is just my family. I have several sides of my family: my mother's side, my father's side, my stepmother's family and my grandmother's friend, Ed's, family. They're all unique. The question is, are they dysfunctional? Or are they just your typical, all-American group of individuals? You judge.

My mother's side is big on nicknames. My mother has a cousin whose nickname is Pistol. She had an uncle they called Buster. Is that normal?

My father's side is pretty scattered. I see my cousin Steven twice a year, on his birthday and mine, which are exactly six months and one day apart. We don't even see each other at Christmas, except for a couple of years ago my entire family came to the hospital for Christmas since I was a patient. You'd think my cousin must live hours upon hours away, right? He lives 10 minutes away from me and he goes to Notre Dame. We barely see each other. Is that normal?

For my stepmother's family: One of my step-cousins is getting married on a boat during a cruise in September. Some of the relatives are going and some aren't. Is that normal?

Ed's family is very unique, at least to me. They're scattered all over America. One of his sons, a daughter-in-law and two grandchildren travel around the country in their RV, usually during the summer. They just randomly show up at relatives' houses. Is that normal?

Then there's my best friend's family. I don't know them that well, but I see them more than I see Steven. They get together over Christmas, birthdays and the like, but as far as I know they don't really see each other in between. Is that normal?

My point here is that there are all different kinds of families and all different kinds of people and about a million or so different types of "normal." So what makes a family normal and what makes a family dysfunctional? You tell me.

Emily Hendricks is a junior at Central High School in Cape Girardeau.