My family is a wild and crazy bunch of Ukrainians, which we are very proud of. Words like 'dupa' hold a special place in my family history. When I was a young kid, my mother did not want my brother's and I saying the word 'butt,' so my father, being Ukrainian, told her that the word for butt in Ukrainian is 'dupa.' From then on, that was what my brothers and I called that particular body part, in all innocence. It wasn't until later my dad revealed to the family that 'dupa' actually is slang for ass is Ukrainian. I grew up in Fort Collins, and have lived in Colorado my whole life. Family, Christ, and church have always been a central part of my upbringing. Worship at Sunday morning service always consisted of my parents getting in front of our entire congregation and leading us in worship. Both my father and mother have never been of the shy type, and it has made me appreciate small things in my family like the constant "I love you's" even after a passionate, sometimes loud, argument. Openness, honesty, and above all respect have been a mainstay in my idea of family.





Games have also played an important role. Whenever I hear the word Monopoly, I can only think of all five of us desperately trying to beat my brother Jon, simply because he always kicked our... dupas. DotA, or 'dota', also is an activity that I'm not sure many families participate in quite like mine. My father is an IT Professional, and has been for 25 years, so every since networking became a possibility, my father has always had our house fully networked, sometimes with upwards of 6 computers linked via LAN in the house. Thus, we were able to enjoy rowdy games of Starcraft, Age of Empires, Warcraft, and the newly-found DotA. Most people like boardgames, which we do play, but videogames are our trend. Who else can say they have a mom who would stay up till 4am on a school night playing Pokemon Snap for the N64, or claimed she had dreams about strategizing how to defeat my younger brother in Age of Empires?

The last characteristic of my family that I love is our passion for food and enjoying food together around the dinner table. Meals and eating lots of food are sort of a tradition. Kugen, which is a Ukrainian sweet bread stuffed with fruits and cream cheese, is a staple. I can remember my mother cooking breads, pies, cookies, and pastries almost all the time. One thing my father always said to us boys growing up is that we will strive to always sit down and have breakfast and dinner together. That made such an impact in my life, now my wife and I have decided to strive for that same thing in our family. Time around our nasty table, littered with deep gouges from our goats breaking into the kitchen, or from burn marks where my mom forgot to place a hotpad under a pot straight off the stove, will always be fond memories for me.

The Kucharyson's are a unique breed. Sometimes we scare people with our lunacy, love for games, and typically loud nature, but ultimately we are about having a great time together and building those familial relationships. I love my family, and anybody that rags on them can... 'pluosalimon dupa!'