Saturday, July 23, 2011

My siblings, an even dozen, who are they to me?

I was born two days before my grandmother Thelma turned 36.  I won a bet for my dad, had I came two days later my grandmother would have been treated steak dinner as it was, she treated my dad.  My mother was in labor 28 hours and I broke the little jay hook bone on her spine.  She said the only thing cute about me was my great big brown eyes, my head looked like a misshapen wiener and I was black and blue for weeks. My mother had never been around a baby, my dad was right at home with me.  The doctor laid me over his arm like a rag doll to prove I wasn't all that breakable, she wasn't all that convince.  My uncle Gary, my moms only sibling, threw me in that air and caught me and my grand mother admonished him that you didn't do that with newborns.  My mother had just turned 18 when I was born.

My brother Silver and his twin Angel were born when I was 14 months old.  They were born about 3 weeks early, my mother had been tripped by a hound about 3 weeks before and Angel wasn't getting fed right.  They were born at home, my grandmother Gladys  delivered them.  They went to the hospital shortly after birth.  Angel lived 9 hours, the two little guys held hands in the incubator. I was an adult before I thought of him as my brother, he had always been Silver's twin, somehow I never connected that he didn't belong to Silver anymore than he had me.  He was my brother too. 

Eleven months after the twins, Red was born.  My mother had not expected him to be a boy, the White's (my maiden name) had not had three boys in a family in countless generations.  He had a lot of pink clothes,  his hair was the same beautiful red as both my grandmothers, an exact match to Thelma's.  He had not been born with the red hair, it was originally black but had turned red shortly after birth.  He had his first hair cut at 4 months old, my grandmother Thelma, cut hers as well and they fashioned little red ponytails and dressed him one of the pretty little dresses that hadn't gotten used,  My dad wasn't impressed, thought those would be blackmail pictures.  He some how didn't get my mom and grandma's sense of humor.

Sixteen months later Sister was born, she was my Sister, and her nickname always reflected that she was.  She had odd dishwater colored hair and when she turned two it turned to the same red as my grandma Thelma's.  She was a delicate little things, sick alot and allergic to milk.  She needed alot of care and my mom need to give alot of care, they had a very close bond. She was the apple of my mom's eye and helped my mom through a lot of hard years.

My mom found that she could not conceive more children for a number of years, they adopted to sons.  One is still my brother, Baby brother, he is my youngest brother and my biggest brother.  The adoptions in the sixties lined up nationalities more than they do now.  Baby brother is German, English and Irish just like the rest of us.  When people found out one of us was adopted people always guessed it was Red or Sister, to us it never matter he was and is our brother.  Mom usually went and brought home the new baby in his case we all got to go. When he was 5 ish he had to get coke bottle glasses, after putting on his new glasses, he got a little scared and said to my dad, "what is that green stuff on the ground?"  My dad shocked said, "grass"  He had no idea that grass existed.

Little Sister came along as a bit of a shock to my mom when I was just short of ten.  She was born at home, as were all the rest of the my biological siblings. Her chest was bigger than her head, I remember it being square.  We all thought my dad had broken his arm as he came out of the bedroom with her all swaddled up.  Her first laugh came as she watch my dad shave his shaggy beard off for the first time. 

Drama Queen was born when I was 12, she had blood shot whites of her eyes.  She looked a little devilish even then.  The doctor, my parents took her to to be check out for her birth certificate, asked why, not a very bright doctor I am assuming.  My dad said, "we hit her with a baseball bat" he was upset of the doctors stupidity at not knowing they were birth marks or pressure marks. She liked drama from the very first it seems.

Baby sister was born shortly after I turned 14, she was the biggest baby my mom ever gave birth too.  My mom will tell you she was pregnant 11 months, some how I don't think so but she didn't have prenatal care to any extent so maybe she was pregnant that long. She turned out to be one of the two smallest of us children as an adult.  She and Sister are both very petite.



I hope that helps clear up some of my genealogy, all be it a tiny bit or a large, very large family.... tomorrow.

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