That funeral we attended the other week has stayed with me. That gracious late lady was 95 years old and had eight kids -- all of whom were there except the eldest girl who had died. Made me think of the bygone days of huge families. Sheila's first child, Patricia, was tragically killed in an accident in the train yard where she worked. Her next one, Joe -- the one we were all totally in love with in high school -- now seems to have a neurological disorder and is very shaky. If Sheila and her husband had stopped at two children, the funeral would have been very different. Only Joe and his wife would have been there and they have no children. So, a sombre affair it would have been. Instead it was a rousing, gay wake with children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren everywhere. After Pat and Joe came five boys and finally a second girl. One of the sons said in the eulogy that his parents decided to try once more for another girl and they got her. And this girl is a real corker -- sort of like her mother.
I had two children, but happily Brian had two so when we got together I ended up with four. I'm not saying it's been care and stress-free, but it has been busy and interesting! We had two couples over for lunch yesterday; one has four children, the other one. After yapping on about my children and grandchildren and after the other couple yakked on about all theirs, I realized we must be boring the third couple to death with our yammering. Their son has yet to marry and there are no grandchildren, so they didn't have much to contribute to the conversation. But I love them both dearly, so we shut up.
Happily, their son is a success. If you have one kid, it better be perfect.
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