2 X 3 = 6

2 x 3 = 6

Our family togetherness sprang into action last week when our local family members : Dear Wife, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren gathered to celebrate my natal day. Family togetherness has been a hallmark to us and here's a story about it.

Early one spring my mother received the devastating news that her sister Ella had tuberculosis and needed to spend a year in a fresh-air sanatorium, in the mountains of Pennsylvania. What could be done about her three children and a husband?

My parents had the answer to that question. At the end of the school year, without hesitation, my mother boarded a train for Pittsburgh and returned home with Margaret (11), Sarah (8),
and Jack (5), to match yours truly (6) and my sister Jane (4). Brother John was born the following spring. It was a very tight ship in a small, three-bedroom house.

One humorous event, among many, is etched in my memory. That summer the area celebrated the opening of the Delaware River Bridge, the first bridge connecting the city of Camden (NJ) with the city of Philadelphia (PA). The first day was given over to a pedestrian walkover, and my brave mother took us five, with a baby carriage, for the walk. Halfway over the bridge, Margaret made the announcement that, "I've got to GO, and SOON!" What's a mother to do, surrounded by thousands of walkers? We gathered to one side, on a grating, and surrounded Margaret while she added to the height of the river water below!!

You know, dear readers, that the year of bonding between us cousins lasted for a lifetime. Four of the six are gone but, never forgotten.

More, later.