When I look back at those pictures of my mother performing - and listen to her recordings - it makes me sad to think that all of that joy she found in her work came to an end. I wish she hadn't had to make that sacrifice even if it was for the benefit of my father and siblings and me.

I don't remember any sibling rivalry growing up because by the time I was really conscious Tom was going away to college. My relationship with him which is a very close one really developed in more recent years.

Because of my unique experience as my mom's child the beginning of my journey was more about me trying to figure out who I was on my own. My mom is one of the greatest moms and so supportive of all my siblings and of all of us being who we are and not who she wanted us to be.

My mom's one of 13 siblings and they all got six kids and till I was 13 everybody was in Compton.

Some of the best times I've spent in Colorado have been in the backcountry with my mom and siblings and more recently with my own kids. That is why I'm concerned to see today's kids spending more time browsing the Internet than exploring nature.

I've never had siblings I didn't grow up in a big family it was just me and my single mom. And hectic family dysfunction was actually something that I craved.

We're learning how important it is both to preserve sibling relationships if they work and repair them if they're broken. We're also learning a lot about nonliteral siblings - stepsiblings half-siblings - and the surprising power they can have.

I'm lucky because I have a job I love. I really miss being away from home being in my own bed seeing my animals and siblings having my moms cookies. I have a couple cats. I got a kitten about a year ago and now Im going on the road so I wont see him for a while. I feel bad.

We can't understand when we're pregnant or when our siblings are expecting how profound it is to have a shared history with a younger generation: blood genes humor. It means we were actually here on Earth for a time - like the Egyptians with their pyramids only with children.

Friends are the siblings God never gave us.

I think I'm funny because my family my siblings were funny.

When I was growing up my mother was always a friend to my siblings and me (in addition to being all the other things a mom is) and I was always grateful for that because I knew she was someone I could talk to and joke with and argue with and that nothing would ever harm that friendship.

Food was always a big part of my life. My grandfather was one of 14 kids and his parents had a pasta factory so as a kid he and his siblings would sell pasta door to door. After he became a movie producer he opened up De Laurentiis Food Stores - one in Los Angeles and one in New York.

There's a sort of sibling moratorium when you're establishing yourself as an adult. So much of your energy has to be focused on other things like work and kids. But when people become more settled siblings tend to regroup because now you're building a new extended family.

It's one of the worst-kept secrets of family life that all parents have a preferred son or daughter and the rules for acknowledging it are the same everywhere: The favored kids recognize their status and keep quiet about it - the better to preserve the good thing they've got going and to keep their siblings off their back.

I was lucky. My family is wonderful. And it's funny because most of my best friends come from very large families. So it always felt as if I had lots of siblings though in the end I had to leave them and go home. I kind of got the best of both worlds as a kid.

I know it's a cliche but the whole family is just whacked. I mean we're all out of our minds. They're the funniest most eccentric bizarre people I've ever met my siblings.

I had a really wonderful upbringing. We were a tight family. It was wonderful to grow up with so many siblings. We were all just a year or two apart and we were always so supportive of each other. I learned everything from my older brother and sister and taught it to my younger sisters.

Where would you be without friends? The people to pick you up when you need lifting? We come from homes far from perfect so you end up almost parent and sibling to your friends - your own chosen family. There's nothing like a really loyal dependable good friend. Nothing.

My own life has in some ways been a decades-long tour of the sibling experience. I have full sibs I have half-sibs and for a time I had step-sibs.

I couldn't have foreseen all the good things that have followed my mother's death. The renewed energy the surprising sweetness of grief. The tenderness I feel for strangers on walkers. The deeper love I have for my siblings and friends. The desire to play the mandolin. The gift of a visitation.

My siblings are my best friends.

Having lots of siblings is like having built-in best friends.

God bless you if you have one child but I don't think anybody should have just one child. Everybody needs a sibling. I have siblings and I have so many amazing precious memories with my siblings. I don't know what I would do if I had been an only child.