I'm one of five and we're all close. Our ages are 27-35. We have 3 active group chats (with parents and spouses) and at least 1 of them is used every single day. There are times when we go a few weeks without seeing each other in person but I always miss them when that happens. We have one sister who is less close , the self proclaimed black sheep, who is much more conservative than us and married someone who is a bad fit with our whole family, but we still see her many times a year and she's on the group chats of course. My brother is more aloof, but my two other sisters are my legitimate best friends who I would love to see weekly if schedules allowed.

I am so glad my parents didn't allow us to be very mean to each other. My husband's parents let his sister act like a real brat towards him, and now they have a strained relationship at best. She is passive aggressive and sometimes downright mean to him, and yet he's the bad guy for not coming around more. Friendship is earned! It takes work and upkeep!