Growing up I remember we had a wooden sign above our fireplace that read "Cheney Pop. 7". It wasn't until I was about 10 or 11 that I realized that "Pop." didn't refer to how many kids my mom popped out, but was an abbreviation for population. When I made that connection, I remember feeling like I had the coolest family in the whole world. I am the second youngest of 5 children. So many of my memories revolve around my siblings and the mean little tricks that were played on me as well as the mean little tricks I turned around and played on the one brother who was younger than me. So much of who I am now was shaped in those early days. My love of nature surely stemmed from the countless camping trips up Mt. Diablo or Yosemite, the fishing trips in Cascade, Idaho, or weekend drives with my sisters along the coast of California. My musical inclinations could very easily be attributed to the hours during our roadtrips where no radio station could be found so we would settle for the next best thing - dad and mom recreating renditions of The Eagles and Kenny Rogers; mom never let us down with her harmonies on "The Gambler". My slightly off sense of humor mimics that of my dad and brothers, I laugh just to hear them erupt with laughter. Even now, the interests and delights of my family shape me. Now my favorite stories are not only those of my own childhood, but of the childhood of my neices and nephews. We are connected, we are a family, we are Cheney Pop. 18.
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