Alyssa Yourish

That's a WRAP...it's a family affair.

My sister & I at my graduation (2006)

Who would have thought 7 years ago, when I graduated from good old DL High School, that 7 more years would pass for my little sister to graduate from highschool and then just recently college all in a blink of an eye. It is crazy to me because I can honestly remember the day I graduated. We took this picture the day of graduation in the highschool cafeteria. We look so young & little back then.


Three years have passed. Three years already!! Can you believe we are at my baby sisters' highschool gradution, because I sure can't. The year 2009, I was a Junior at the University of Pittsburgh @ Johnstown. She was planning on attending Penn State Behrend. So, yes our house is divided and it always will be divided. Pitt vs. PSU both colleges in opposite directions, miles apart. It was okay when one of us was away because the other one was usually home, but this time we would both be gone, both at college, both on different break schedules, etc. We weren't going to be away forever....
 
And little do we know 4 more years have passed by and we are at this point today. I have been out of school for 2.5 years, living at home to save money, working full time at my first big kid job we like to say with UPMC. I have been with UPMC's Research and Institutional Billing Department for 2 years. And Since I started working my sister transferred to PSU Main Campus and was busy working to graduate, having her fun, partying, and working for Macy's as her internship. She was even lucky enough to be one of those many few to have a job right out of college. She will be heading back for Macy's for a management program and then she will eventually have the chance to work her way up into what she wants to do!

 A family day up at PSU taking graduation pictures...You better believe I wore my Pitt shirt.

 Jenna's Family Graduation Dinner at Lucianio's. (yes, i am finally taller than her). This is a big accomplishment for me, even if it's only by an inch.(Of course I have heels on)

The whole entire family showed up (well mostly everyone, who could be there). We had a dinner for mine and it was nice to get together again and celebrate such an accomplishment. It was nice to see everyone again, because you think as family you should see eachother all the time, esp. if you all live within a 5 mile radius of everyone. But, sadly it is not the case, we all have our lives, jobs, obligations, etc. it is always hard for us to all get together. But this was a perfect occasion to have all us come together and catch up.

Cheers to the ones who couldn't be here or are not longer with us! We miss you!

 

Momma, Daddy, Jenna, & I

 

My #1 Supporter                                                                      My favorite littlebuddy

Cousin lovin'

 

You can see we are one extremely close family, and I guess everyone says that. But in the past couple of years we have faced some hardships that if we weren't together or close we would have never have gotten through. You need to come together in those times, support eachother, lift eachother up when one is down. And I can tell you this is the best family ever! There is a huge age gap between us cousins, but I can tell you when I was little my older cousin were always there for me, just like they are now. The bond we have together is one that is unbreakable. We will be there for eachother through think & thin.

 

I guess you really never truly understand why people always say enjoy life now, because it will be here and be gone before you know it. I can think back to when we were all little, sitting at grams, playing cards, our Christmas pjs, the funny little quotes Lizzie (Grams) use to say to us, like "keep it in your pants" and we were little! We're Italian and she spoke her mind she didn't care! And now that's a wrap. All of the first cousins are done with school, we are on to the next path of our lives or have been on that path for a while. We now get to watch and experience our second cousins grow up and go through their school days. Hoping to give them guidance, support,  have them come to us in times of need, and be there for them like we were there for eachother. We all may be on different paths, we all many want different things in life, but no matter where life takes us, no matter how many miles apart, there is one thing that we are certain of. We are family and we will ALWAYS be there for eachother. Nothing is going to change that.

 

This quote explains us 100%. We aren't perfect, nor do we want to be. We are real and honest. We tell it like it is, we harass eachother, we give eachother a hard time, we make jokes, we disagree, and sometimes fight. But at the end of the day, you know you can go a couple of days without talking, pick up the phone say "you're sorry" and you are okay, nothing ever happened. Because that is what family is. We voice our opinions because we care. We want the best for one another and that's who we are!

 

My family is my life. My whole world. I love you guys!