A child from a family of 9. Third from the last. (Of course a good Catholice family)
Really I feel like my family was two different parts. My older siblings who I watched grow up in the 60s with much distress to my parents. And the bottom 4.
We had it much easier. But only in that my parents were tired. Well maybe not easier, they just let us slide, do what ever you need to get out of the house. They didn’t really want you there any longer than you had to be.
Granted I didn’t get kicked out like my younger brother and sister at the end. But the parental guidance was scant. Not that I blame either of my parents.
I have two kids, and I can only imagine what it would be like to try to get that many raised.
My oldest sister died when I was 5 months old. I sometimes think that is why I have a melancholy spirit at times. I know there was a lot of grief during my very early years.
January 23, 2007 at 4:36 am
We are a family of 3 and there still was not any guidance coming from our parents. They were just hard working people who struggled to make ends meet. For awhile, I resented this in a way, but now I realize that they did the best they could in their limited way and limited understanding. If they were capable of more, I am sure that they would have given more.
Oh, my brother is the baby by 10 years and he got away with a lot. After having 2 girls, the boy was probably the relief. Yes, my mother was tired. I can remember that my sister and I would not allowed near the stove for years, while at 9 years old my brother could make his own egg breakfast… and he certainly did, without any flack from my mom…. humf!
January 24, 2007 at 11:39 pm
Hi, SeAndBe….I think that we forget sometimes what ’sponges’ we are as babies…even in the womb! We are interacting in the energy of our families, even if we don’t understand it. The meloncoly you feel might even be some residual emotion picked up from your Mother that you just ‘felt’ was yours. There is a practice where we can visualize going back to that time, feeling those feelings, and then give them back to the people that were around us at the time. At 5 months, you couldn’t have been cognizant of a real sense of ‘loss’, as babies are so resilitant. Perhaps trying this visualization would help to relieve some of that….HUGS!