I have this picture on my desk of my siblings and me. I always was the chubby one with freckles so I guess you can probably tell which one is me. My mother always dressed my sister Sue and I the same in formal photos. Sue could pull it off better than I. She had pretty blond hair and pretty skin. I had bland, brown hair and.....well... freckles. Lots of them. blech! I always hated my freckles growing up. As I've gotten older and learned to like them, they've faded ALOT but I can still see them faintly if I peer into the mirror real close. It's as if my childhood is there, waiting for me like a tease, just below the surface. If I could wipe away the years of exposure to the sun, acid rain, stress and cigarette smoke the freckles would be there as bright as you please. But the little girl is gone.The one in the front with the cool crewcut is my younger brother. To look at him in this picture... he looks like the picture of innocence. He doesn't wear his hair like that anymore, especially after his Army stint. Speaking of my brother and the Army...... did you know that if you are stationed in Honduras ... it's a big NO NO to get rippin' drunk, steal a native's cow and have a huge BBQ at an off base keg party? I didn't either! Go figure. He's calmed down a little over the years but he still knows how to throw a good party.
My older sister Sue appears to be all grown up now and everything but read this and judge for yourself! Up where she lives, it's a long, long, long cold winter and they have all sorts of freaky things to amuse themselves. Note to Sue: Don't worry, sis - I wont give away all your secrets!
My older brother is 9 years older than I and wasn't around after I turned 9 so I don't have alot of memories of him from our younger years. When he turned 18, things didn't go well between him and my father and he decided to take the ultimatum and leave. It was something we didn't talk about or ask about EVER afterward. I spent the rest of my childhood not knowing why my brother left.
11 comments:
Very touching insight into your childhood and siblings. We all live in dysfuntional families these days it seems. Mine is top of the line dysfunctional...sister and I don't get along, niece ran away from home at 16 and although she's ok, will never recapture the youth she threw away. Dad is an alcoholic that stopped drinking years ago but still has the "symptoms" that come along with it. Mom had an affair on my dad before I was born and to this day I doubt my sister is his. (I'm not suppoed to know that though)
It makes me have wishes...for a Happy, non-dysfunctional family. For a sucure future for my own daughter and a full life with my husband. When I look back at my life it makes me wonder where did we all go so wrong? Why couldn't we all just get along and be happy and enjoy each others company like they did on tv shows like Little House or 7th Heaven?
It does help to blog about stuff like this...to recature all those memories, good ones and bad ones. Hugs!
WOW...I have to say I am quite curious about your brother. Have you not seen him since?
I'm convinced that there's no such thing as a "normal" family--even the ones that seem to have the perfect husband/wife, 2.5 kids, dog, SUV, blah blah..
Every family has its secrets and skeletons.
Hell, that's what makes life interesting--and annoying all at the same time!
This post almost seems like the start of a short story about you and your siblings...a great connection to the picture and you really brought me into your younger days.
Thanks for sharing!
M.
First, you were such a cute kid. I don't see the chubby, but I have enough of my own body hang-ups to know that you will see it that way no matter what I say. However, you really were a cutie!
Your brother sounds like a lot of fun. So does your sister, although I could have lived my entire life without seeing those men in their underwear playing Twister.
Family dynamics work in very mysterious ways. Have you since found out what went on between your dad and brother? Do they talk now? (Yes, I'm nosy)
Until the day she died my mother was still buying "matching" stuff for the three of us. As kids poor Terri would have to wear the 'same' sweater for years because we had it in 3 different sizes. Terri and I used to dress all of our kids alike every christmas too...NOT anymore...they won't let us.
That is so sad. Maybe it's that I wasn't raised with my half-brothers, but to lose one that you knew as a kid. That seems harsh.
aww thanks for sharing that. i hope your older brother has reconciled.........
I hope there's more to this story, Sheri.
But I do have to say this: you WERE the cute one. I say so.
You're going to have to update this blog, I think people are under the impression that our older brother is some homeless derelict or something, you will have to clue them in. You definitely were the cute one, and still are!
Ahhh, memories! Especially those of family. Over my Christmas break I spent a ton of time scanning in hundreds of old photos, slides and film negatives ranging from 1970 to 1985. Actually, the total came out to at least 1600 because my scanner names each scan numerically starting at "photo0000" and works up. Why, you ask? Well my mom said she had a box full of slides from when we were younger and wanted to have them printed so she could look at them. I offered to convert all of the old stuff to digital since it's the wave of the future. I even organized them into folders based on date and event. Then I gave my mom a photo DVD so she could have a slideshow on her TV.
Sorry - I ran on and on here.
I miss MY freckles too! Someone shouldda told me that I'd miss them when I was young and hated mine too.
YES - Update on the older brother!
XOXOX
(Didn't I used to have a link on your blog somewhere? ;~)
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