The Wayward Family.
From Death; an Idea.

Here in Ohio a person cannot depend on the weather man. A couple of days ago it was a sunny spring day and last night, a blizzard. The weather had traffic stalled with white out conditions in some areas. The snow claimed a life within my group of friends, a traffic accident.
This isn’t my first encounter with death but maybe my most inspiring. I come from a very small family with disorder and cancer making it even smaller. A person might think that a small family would be able to keep up to date with one another, but you would be wrong in thinking that. From as far west as Oregon, as south as Texas, as east as the Carolinas, and as north as Ohio, you can find a Stein. This is extremely aggravating and due to this run in with death I will no longer stand for it. Now, I cannot just tell everyone to pick a state and build a home. Likewise I cannot up root that easily. But, I can do something.
I know that I am not the only person in this world with this dilemma of wanting to keep their family together while having a band of gypsies as a family. Therefore, I am writing this to share my idea with whoever this may help. I am going to write a book about my family. You could consider it a form of ethnographic writing. In some ways, that’s what this is going to be. More of a dedication. Each member will have their own chapter. When it comes time for my chapter, I will simply thank everyone who was involved and write how much each person meant to me and make sure that each person knows of their contribution to not only my life, but to the world. 
I plan on spending at least three months with each family member while I interview them. I will work at whatever grocery store will hire me to stock their shelves at night. For my sister I will begin this summer with the interview and spend the winter putting it into a coherent story. For my father I will spend next summer in North Carolina doing the same, and the winter in Ohio for school. For my twin brother I will spend the summer in South Carolina. For my older brother, we will spend the summer walking from Mexico to Canada on The Pacific Crest Trail. This is a plan that is already in motion. For the two aunts and one uncle, I will apply the same summer/winter format. This is something that I would recommend to anybody who is really curious about their family, and likes to write. Furthermore, I don’t plan on procreating and I feel that there is already a void that needs to be filled because of this. This writing will not only fill that void with busy work, but also it will give me a sense of creation. For as long as the ink stays on the paper of the book, the Steins will stay on the face of the earth. 
Last night a life was lost and nothing should overcast the story of that man, nor the grieving of that family. But, to allow a death to lead to only grief is the work of the devil. Something has to come from this and something has already begun.