Meet the Rogers

                                                    Meet the Rogers by Ashley Rogers                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Actor Michael J. Fox is quoted as saying, "Family is not an important thing - it's everything," and I couldn't agree more. Family to me has always been a source of comfort, support, understanding, and unconditional love. They are the people I turn to when I have a bad day and they always have my back, no matter what. My family consists of my three older sisters, my mom, and dad and I couldn't be happier that we have such a close connection.                                                                           Each individual in my family is special to me for their own reasons. My oldest sister, Kristine, who is twenty-six, works for an environmental non-profit in Sussex County and visits schools in the neighboring districts, teaching the importance of protecting the environment by being conscious of your ecological footprint. My twenty-four year old sister, Melissa, was salutatorian of Sparta High School's class of 2012, graduated from the University of Notre Dame, and is now living in Virginia, working in marketing. My twenty-one year old sister, Jessie, will be graduating from Providence College this spring with a degree in art and psychology and plans on possibly becoming an art teacher. Every one of my sisters has done well in school, a goal that has always been stressed by my parents. They have taught each of us the importance of academics, responsibility, and hard work and their expectations for us have always been high.                                                                                  My closest family member by far is my mom. She is my best friend and I do everything with her. I know that I can count on her to be there whenever I need her. In the past, she has worked as a preschool and kindergarten teacher and I have even considered following in her footsteps with my own career. My mom is a fantastic cook and I think it is her meals that help keep this family together. It seems like we celebrate everything with her food! As for my dad, I am looking forward to spending more time with him now that he is taking an early retirement from ADP, where he worked for the last thirty-seven years.                                                                                                                                          Our family wouldn't be complete without our eight year old Great Pyrenees named Zebeau, who I nicknamed Bubby. He's extremely protective, loyal, and friendly to our family, but considers the whole neighborhood to be his territory. To me, he is such a lovable boy and I wouldn't trade him for the world.                                                                                                                                                       As you can see every one of my family members is important to me. Each one of them is someone I enjoy laughing with, sharing with, occasionally arguing with, and just plain being with. Even though two of my sisters are now living in Virginia and Rhode Island, we are still very close and I hear from them every day. I am truly fortunate to have a family like mine and am thankful for each one of them.