Big friends, big families
LA CROSSE, Wis. — Best friends since first grade, Logan seniors Jonah Waite and Al Johnson have a big thing in common: big families.
“I have three brothers and then five sisters,” Waite said, one of nine kids.
“I have three brothers and eight sisters,” Johnson said, one of 13 kids.
“It’s chaos, pretty much,” Johnson continued. “Bunch of my sisters are screaming around the house. All my brothers are moved out so it’s just me and a bunch of girls.”
“There’s a little chaos every day, but you take the good with the bad,” Al’s mom, Lisa Johnson said. “There’s never a dull moment. It’s exciting and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Jonah Waite takes it all in stride.
20166508“I’m always competing with someone else,” he said. “Just always trying to do stuff better than the other kids above you, I guess is what it was.”
Both Jonah and Al learned plenty of lessons from growing up in big families, lessons that apply to their other families on the baseball diamond.
“Just be patient with everyone,” Jonah said. “Everyone learns different, everyone has different abilities, so you just gotta be patient with absolutely everybody.”
“When you grow up in a big family, you learn to rely on each other and patience is definitely a virtue,” said Lisa.
“It’s definitely more exciting than being a single child or something like that,” said Al.
