Throwback Thursday

It's that time of the week!

Me with my favorite pink bandanna and Desert Storm windbreaker, and my brother looking like a hitman

This is my brother and I at Alcatraz Island in 2012. My uncle took us to San Francisco, CA that year for our annual family vacation (my parents did not come, so these vacations were some one-on-one time that we could spend with our uncle). Sadly, this would be the last family vacation I would go on with them. My overall family situation severely deteriorated and I would leave a few months after this photo was taken (my computer dates this photo to August 14, 2012).

Family vacations were a special time for my brother and I. Since our uncle was not married or had children and he made quite alot of money as an optical engineer, we basically became like "his kids". We enjoyed it when our uncle would come to visit us from Indiana and he too liked to spend lots of time with us. Vacations with him were a way for us to see the places that my parents would never set foot in either for cost constraints or other reasons. This annual tradition began in 2007, when my mom finally allowed my uncle to take myself and my brother to New York City, something we'd wanted to do for years. I have many fond memories of my vacations with my uncle.