I also told her MY family's Christmas party is usually held before or after Christmas and this year it is being held on Saturday at a local Knights of Columbus Hall. "Oh, I never told you I come from a big family, did I?" I said to my boss. "Really?" she said. "Yes, I have 12 siblings - 9 brothers and 3 sisters..."
The regular questions followed:
"All from the same mother and father?" YES.
"No step-brothers or sisters?" NO.
"Where do you fall in?" I am the 3rd youngest.
"No twins?" NO.
Then one or two comments such as "...I thought 7 was a big family" and "your mother must be a saint". YES, my mother is a saint and I think that even more so now that I have three children of my own to care for. The conversation with my boss ended because we actually had business to discuss.
Here are is a sampling of other comments and questions I normally get when someone hears I grew up in a family of 13 children:
"How big was your house?" Not really large by today's standards - technically it was a 4-5 bedroom.
"How many bathrooms?" One bathroom, until everyone had moved out and my parents added a second.
"Does everyone still live in the area?" - Yes. Everyone lives within a 1.5 drive of each other with the exception of Don, who is only an hours flight away.
"Christmas must have been a lot of fun as a kid." Definitely! Some of my greatest childhood memories are of Christmas morning.
This is a picture from our wedding in 2004. All my brothers and sisters were in attendance. The angel (Ma) is in the front in purple dress. My dad (God rest his soul) passed away in March of 2003.
Post note: We had a Yankee Swap today at work - guess what number I drew?
