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Tina knew she was lucky to have the family she did.
She knew when she would get sick in the middle of the night, throwing up and coughing in the bathroom. And her mother would gently hold and comfort her the entire night despite being exhausted.
She knew when her dad would teach her to cook. Despite all the mistakes she made he made sure to stay patient with her, kindly guiding her in the right direction.
She knew when her brother joked and laughed with her. Giving her a space to calm and forget about everything.
She knew when her sister would get protective over her. Yelling, hitting, and threatening anyone who dared hurt Tina.
And she knew when she’d see Jimmy Jr. fighting with his dad across the street. Yelling and insulting each other over something she had no idea about, but she knew it wasn’t good. And Jimmy Jr. would come into school the next day more angrier and snappier than he already was.
She’d hear stories on top of stories about families like that, or families even worse than that. Jimmy Jr. and Pesto's relationship seemed.. Strained. But she’d heard stories of families with relationships even more harmful than that. Parents who fight and scream and hit each other, and siblings who do the exact same thing. Older siblings who take advantage of and harm their younger siblings. That one hurt her in particular, she couldn’t imagine ever hurting her siblings, just thinking about it made her sad.
Tina loved her siblings. As an older sister it was her job to protect and care for her younger siblings and she did her best to stay true to that, because all she wanted was the best for Gene and Louise. And to think anyone could ever even imagine hurting their siblings hit deep within her, she just couldn’t quite get it. Some siblings had strained relationships, and she knew she was so lucky her siblings were so amazing and that their relationship was so strong. Because despite the jokes, the sarcasm, the sometimes outright rudeness, she knew her siblings loved her just as much as she loved them.
And Tina loved her parents, and her parents loved each other. She’d always loved romance and the idea of soulmates, and she couldn’t think of anyone who fit the word “soulmates” more than her parents. Their relationship was adorable, and she knew they cared about each other deeply. She never really thought about it when she was younger, because that’s just how parents were supposed to be she thought. But then she’d find out about the parents who argue, who scream, who fight, who hit each other and throw things. She couldn’t even imagine a relationship like that, she didn’t understand why some parents stayed together if they didn’t love each other. It was a hard concept for her to understand. So when she’d see her parents holding hands, hugging, laying atop each other, she would be glad her parents loved each other as much as they did, and she would be so glad they loved her just as much as they loved each other.
Tina didn’t think about it often, about just how lucky she was to be in this family. But when she did she made sure to appreciate them just that bit more. She’d hug her parents just a bit tighter, and laugh at her siblings' jokes just a bit more, to make them just a bit happier.
Tina knew what she had was special, and she tried to appreciate that fact as much as she could. Her family was loving, it was caring, it was accepting. There were so many families that didn’t have that, and her heart goes out to all those poor children who endure a home life like that, she can’t even imagine their pain. So when she sees her family next to her at the dinner table, eating a home cooked meal and asking about each other's days, she’ll make sure to enjoy what she has. Because she loved her family so much.