My Parents Raised Nine Children

I was lucky enough to have both my parents for quite a number of years. They were very loving but also strict when they needed to be. My father passed away in the 1990s and my mother recently passed away in 2017. I wrote previously about my mother’s passing but today I want to tell you a little about them.

My parents were married in the 1950s and remained married until death. They had nine children, seven girls and two boys. I should also tell you that there was almost a twenty year difference in their ages but they loved each other very much and I believe my mom was twenty one or twenty two when she married. They had a small wedding with just a few close friends.

Dad and mom cutting their wedding cake.

DAD
When we were growing up, people would always, jokingly, say that my parents had their own baseball team and dad always had a good laugh at that. My father was an only child and I often wondered if that is why he wanted a lot of children. He grew up in the city and his life was hard as he grew up during the depression. He never talked much about his life growing up but I know it was hard. His parents scraped enough money up to send him to a boarding school which back then it was what they did to keep him safe and from being put to work. There were no child labor laws then and many children were forced to work so out of love for him they did this. His father worked as a laborer and his mother was a homemaker and did odd jobs. My father told us once that his mother would clean houses for scraps off the table and would also make caramels that she would sell. My father started a job when he was old enough and stayed at that job for all of his life. Growing up, he lived with his parents, three aunts and a cousin when he wasn’t in school. He had another aunt that was his favorite but she passed away at a young age. He would tell us that two of the aunts that lived there were mean and he did not care for them as much. He worked for the Baltimore Gas & Electric Company which was a very good yet dangerous job to have. Among other things, he was responsible for checking on the substations and he was a trouble-shooter. Every now and then, while out riding around, I’ll pass one of the old substations and it always reminds me of my dad.

An old substation close to my home.

One thing we could never doubt was his love for us and the sacrifices he and my mom made for all of us. My father not only worked his job but he also volunteered for a few organizations including the Red Cross and the Civil Air Patrol. Even though he worked and volunteered, he still found time for his wife and children. He was very smart and in his retirement, he was a substitute teacher. He also, like my mother, had a love of animals. We always had a dog in the house which my dad always named Laddie. We probably had three Laddie’s growing up. He also, at one time, had a white New Zealand rabbit named Snowball. I kid you not, that rabbit loved my father and he loved it. Whenever my father bought bananas, Snowball would sniff them out to have some. No matter where they were, rest assured Snowball was gonna find them and have some and my father indulged her just a little and understandably so. My father was a patient man. I remember being upset over complicated homework and he would help patiently. He did that with all of his children. Another notable thing about my father is that he had beautiful handwriting. That came from old school teaching and he was always complimented on it. Did I tell you dad was a pie man? I jokingly say that my father never met a pie he didn’t like. I think blueberry may have been his favorite though. I like blueberry also so maybe I get that from him..lol!

Dad and mom in a park.

MOM
My mother grew up quite differently than my dad. She grew up on a farm with her parents and two brothers. Growing up on a farm was hard also as there was always work to be done. She would tell us stories about her brothers hopping the train to go adventuring when they could and even running a little moonshine back in the day. My mom loved animals! So much, that her parents would send her away just briefly when it came time to “harvest” livestock. She knew so much about all kinds of plants too and it gave her a lot of joy to get the new seed and plant catalogs in the mail. We almost always had a vegetable garden in the backyard when we were young. She also was great at sewing and embroidery. Unfortunately, she just never had the time to teach us much at sewing as she was busy with all of us. We all had chores growing up but there was still lots that needed to be done. When she left her parental home, I heard stories that she lived in New York briefly and worked as a receptionist. When she moved to Maryland she worked in a pharmacy and that is where she met my father. My mom was probably the strongest person in my life and she was just as beautiful. She didn’t believe in going to doctors and I only remember three times that she did go other than giving birth. She preferred her medicinal plants and they always seemed to help her. Mom was very good at baking and some of my favorites growing up were her apple tarts and fruit cobblers. Only a couple of times she made the most divine orange cake and it was all from scratch. It is funny the things one remembers and that orange cake was truly memorable. She also loved music and had a fairly large collection of vinyl. As she got older we bought her a cd player and cd’s but she always preferred to spin the old records on her record player. Honestly, I preferred it also!

One of moms favorite Christmas albums. (Mario Lanza Sings Christmas Carols)

MY PARENTS
As mentioned above, my parents were loving yet strict. They made mistakes, like we all do, but we never doubted their love for us and how much they sacrificed in having all of us. Each of us feels like they had their favorites but mom and dad would deny that they had favorites. I will say that they took lots of photos of the oldest three or four but that novelty must have worn off as the younger ones did not have as many photos. I am number six in the brood. I have two older brothers, three older sisters and three younger sisters. The youngest two are twins and I guess that is when my parents decided that was enough. We didn’t have a whole lot growing up and hand me downs were dismal being the middle girl but I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I left home when I was twenty-two years old and it made me appreciate the things I have and I worked hard for what I do have. I try to live my life kind of simply and I don’t consider myself a “material” person. I’m of the mind that you can’t take it with you. A few of my sibling sisters are the same way.

I feel blessed that my daughter and son knew my mom and have many memories of her. My mom even taught my children a little about sewing and embroidery.

This one belongs to my son

I think her grandkids really kept her going after dad passed away. My daughter is from my first marriage and there is a ten year difference between my kids. My dad passed away long before my son was born. My daughter only has one small memory of my dad but I’m thankful for that. He passed away shortly after her third birthday. Dad knew many grandchildren before passing away and my mom got to know twenty-two grandchildren and several great grandchildren. I think of my parents often and even more as I grow older and ponder my own mortality. I sometimes feel that they are close by and are still watching over us with the same love they gave through all the years when they, selflessly, raised nine children!