about your leno fam question
from what i know, leno’s siblings are all at least 7 years older than him so he’s truly the BABY of the family.
his eldest sister dotes on him very publicly and proudly. she’s been posting about him since she started her ig (back in 2013/14?) and calls him “my little bug” which is very cute!
she posts for the other siblings too but basically documented leno growing up (e.g. them reading together, them on some sort of outing/activity, supporting leno in little league, leno’s first youth hockey game, leno’s nhl debut) which is all very sweet.
john was away for hockey and it’s usually just kid leno and his two older sisters hanging out so younger leno seemed to be very close (and attached to, like literally hanging off them, being carried by them as a Big ten-year-old child) with his two sisters.
there’s also the “john-was-kinda-mean-and-bad-to-leno” narrative(?) and there’s just too much to unpack there but there’s a really good post by moondoggiestyle
BUT what we do know FOR SURE that leno really respects his brother and thinks his brother is part of the reason why leno can be the player he is.
i also believe that his dad shared that leno was the only kid that got to travel out and compete in places that required flights there (said something along the lines that they couldn’t imagining spending so much money for youth comps so they didn’t let leno’s older siblings do that)
his dad did most, if not all, of the chaperoning for leno since his mom was working
their family also seems to be veryyyy into matching festive sweaters, as seen on ig.
so i do think leno would have been quite close to his family growing up!
the age gap with leno and his siblings is so fascinating to me because to the average person i feel like it would impact his relationships with others so much more, which we do see in a sense like how he is the beloved younger brother with the caps. but the hockey element of it all just turns it all sideways because that is an engrained brotherhood, but since he went through the program that brotherhood was also his competition
while his mom worked a lot, it sounds like his older sister took on that motherly role?
i will have to check out that post you mentioned! seems like a lot of gems to be read about in there
super cute that they seem to be tight even though it's not talked about as much
