"One of the best gifts I ever gave you," my mother told me recently, "was your brothers and sisters." How very true!  I LOVE being a part of a large family - seven siblings, five girls and two boys.  What a joy to have four sisters and two brothers!

When I saw an article,<a title="The_Omnichild's_Dilemma" href="http://articles.boston.com/2012-01-30/opinion/30674003_1_child-abuse-parents-friend" target="_blank"> "The Omnichild's Dilemma,"</a> I clicked on the link and read one woman's tale of being a singleton.  She called being an only child, "child abuse — a cruelty that only gets worse as the Baby Boomers age."

"Consider my friend," the author says, "an only child struggling to care for her parents. . . but with young children and a full-time job, my friend can only do so much. Limitless, however, is the crushing sense of responsibility, angst, and guilt."

Last week, my brother-in-law had heart surgery. My sister had two siblings to sit with her through the long day of surgery, and other siblings who took turns coming by to encourage and distract her, to pray for her and her husband.

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