I had a similar experience as a child…there nine of us! Yikes! The impact was devastating, especially since my mother was an orphan at nine years old and told stories of the loneliness of her childhood. These stories impacted me so much that I always feared that she might die and I would be left with the same loneliness. She came back of course. I think she was sending a message to my father more than to any of us children.
I raised four children. There were moments of overwhelm, when I desperately needed help. But I will never know how my mother was able to raise nine children (at the time; ultimately there were ten) and keep her sanity and humor and love intact. I cannot overstate her influence in my life and, resultingly, my influence in my own children’s lives! We all love imperfectly right? But we love! And that’s what matters I think. Thanks for your story.
