Growing Up

I grew up in a house that was built in 1888. The rooms were small, the closets even smaller – at best 3 outfits would fit in the closet of most of the rooms. There were steam radiators throughout the house.

The house has so many memories. Some good, some challenging but it was the sum total of these that made me who I am.

Some simple memories – like putting towels on the radiator, then wrapping my feet in the towels to warm them for sleep.

Some complex memories – like my sister being hit by a moving van at the tender age of six. She and I were only a year apart in age and were so similar that we used to frequently play twins. Typically, she and I would walk home from school together. This particular day she had permission to walk home with a friend. As I arrived home my brother raced in before I could. I didn’t think much of it, as we would frequently race home from school. Getting inside first would be the winner, not simply getting to the door. What happened next is a jumble of thoughts.

The accident was only two blocks from the house. I started to walk back. Less than halfway there I froze in my tracks. I guess I wasn’t to see my sister’s broken body.

We were eight siblings in all – three boys followed by five girls. The first seven of us were roughly one every year. That afternoon/ evening our neighbors took us in while mom and dad were at the hospital. They had seven children also. It was most definitely a very full house. It’s funny how memories work. My only clear memory is that I had to write the letter ‘I’ for homework.

My sister’s injuries were critical but she was a fighter and fight she did. It took many months but she recovered. She has some disabilities as a result of the accident but she still lives every day to the fullest. I know since my own brain surgeries I have much more empathy for what that means.

On the joyful side, her birthday is three days before mine and my sister who is a year older is a week before that. Growing up we always had a joint birthday party on the weekend in the middle.

As we got older, and moved off into our own lives we don’t get to do the joint party as often but we do attempt to make them happen. This year with so many things to celebrate is one of those years.

Happy birthdays to us!