IRISH TWINS

       Many times at this time of year I have commented that I'm an Irish twin. That means that my mother had 2 children within one year. So my brother was born 11 months and 2 weeks after I was born. Also my sister was born a year and three months after my brother. So my mom had three children and the oldest was two years and three months old. 

      So today is my brother' 84th birthday and I am still 84 but turning 85 in a couple of weeks. 

     It's my opinion, that Irish twins are more active and twin like than actual twins. We were very active and full of mischief. Since there were three of us , I think my brother and I had to learn to take care of ourselves and each other when we were very young. 

                                          I'm looking after Merce

First day of school for gr one and two.

                                   The three of two years and 3 months apart. 

     When my brother was young he was commonly called Merce. There are still a couple of people today who call him Merce . Where did that name come from? His brother (me) couldn't say Myrven. The closest I got was Merce and Merce stuck. 

     Our house was very small. The bedroom we had wasn't much bigger than the bed. We didn't have separate beds until we were 13 or 14. 

     Anyway this is a way to say happy brother to my Irish twin.

LITTLE BROTHERS

         Everybody needs a little brother.

   

       So my little brother is on the left. The little old guy with white hair is me!

      So little brothers are good for playing, pushing, shoving and generally being a nuisance with the assistance of their older brother. 

      They also kept you warm at night. When we were little we had a very small two bedroom house. All the kids slept in one bed. Did I say the house was could? Yes , so we slept in one pile and kept each other warm. 

      We had lots of good fights with rhubarb stalks. We would each find the biggest rhubarb stalk we could find and then we'd start wailing on each other. Usually the soft leafy part would breakoff and then we just had the heavy stalk to beat one another. 

     Now you look at the difference in size and you may be wondering about the little brother stuff. No, we weren't adopted. We always said our Mom was 4 ft. nothing even though she was about 5 ft. . Our dad was over 6 ft tall. Two of us were tall and two of us were small. 

     Just for the record I was the biggest until we hit puberty. I quit growing  and my brother had a growth spurt. 

     Now we are 82 and 83. We don't do these things anymore but I look back at the fun we had growing up. 

My Great Good Fortune: a new brother when I was fifteen

       Yes that's right! I had a new brother when I was fifteen and it was a major good fortune in my life.

      I began thinking about this situation after I had talked to a friend who was born three weeks before her brother finished high school. He did not handle it well as he was knocked off his perch as top dog in the family. He became permanently estranged from his family. I thought how sad! How much was missed.

      I began to think then that I was very fortunate as we found our new brother to be the best thing since candy.

     Now I have to back up a bit. My sister died very suddenly and unexpectedly from illness when she was eleven and I was thirteen. This loss was devastating  to my Mom and Dad. In the mid 1950's it was considered that a replacement child would be a proper solution for the loss of a child. So at age forty my mother became pregnant and delivered a beautiful healthy little boy on Valentine's Day. So surprise to Mom and Dad as they had really hoped to have a daughter. This surprise was not noticed for a second as the family were all overjoyed at the new baby.

    As you remember, this was an isolated farm so Mom had left a couple of weeks before the baby was due and came home when the weather and roads allowed. It was a great day at our house when David arrived home. Mom showed the three if us our new brother and I remember being very touched by this small new person who had become a member of our household. Mom involved us in David's care from the first day. We thought it was a big deal to hold David, feed him and oh yes change him. I'm afraid to admit that he was a bit of a toy and as a result he received a tremendous amount of attention. It was good for all of us as we had something which allowed us to grow and David received more attention than most other infants and I'm sure he felt that he was wanted and appreciated. This was a good situation for our Mom as being an older mother and still having a busy household to look after, some willing hands to look after a new baby would have been great for her.

     As everybody knows little people grow and develop very quickly. David always had people to play with him and keep him company. There were no children in our district who were David's age so his older brothers were his playmates. We put big old cowboy hats on him and told him his name was "Tex". When we asked him what his name was he would say "Tex" and we were all amused . In fact it was worse than that. His middle name was Calvin and when he was little he couldn't say Calvin. He said"Calman" so there was more amusement at David's expense. These antics were continuous.

     David did give me one of the biggest frights in my life. When He was about two Mom had put him outside to play. He would usually stay right around the house and she would keep her eye on him. She couldn't see him so she told me to go out and check on him. We had had a heavy spring snow storm. It was easy to follow his tracks in the snow. I found him in the ditch by the road. There had been water in the ditch and it had snowed so heavily that the snow covered the water. David didn't realize this and so kept on walking until he toppled over face down into the wet slushy snow. When I saw him face down  I was terrified as I thought he had drowned. I waded in and picked him up and he was fine but very wet.

     All too soon I left the home as I went to Teacher's College in the city so I only lived with him for a little more than two years. My two other brothers soon left so much of David's life was as an only child. He was very good for Mom and Dad as he was very laid back and agreeable. He got along with adults very well. Our ninety year old grandfather lived with us for six months of each year. I think grandpa appreciated his youngest grand son and they certainly spent time together. One time they were arguing a bit so Mom went to see what was going on. They had a small child's book that was upside down and they had a disagreement about the rabbit. Grandpa said it was a jackrabbit and David insisted it was Peter Rabbit. Grandpa was talking in German and David was talking in English. Apparently that is how we communicated with Grandpa, but I don't remember doing that.

    I regret that I missed being in the home when David grew up. However, it just doesn't work that way. The short time I lived with him was rewarding and I couldn't see life without his presence and all the experiences afforded us for personal growth and development. 

    


Dave many years later moving forward but not into the lake.



514% Increase "Ain't" Bad!

     I recently read a news item dealing with the increase in Face Book accounts for 2009. The part that caught my attention was that there was a 514% increase in accounts started by ages 50 and over! And I was one of the 514%!

     I was certainly aware of Face Book . But I listened to CBC interviews and the scoop was that Face Book was for younger people ...possibly college or university age. I had no interest in Face Book . The rumor was that security was a problem.

    However, a friend or two kept talking about Face Book. In fact, we were discussing using Face Book as a vehicle to increase membership in an organization we belonged to.
  
    So one day I ended up looking at Face Book . Before very long I found people I knew and looked at their list of friends and saw more people I knew. Then I accidentally checked on relatives! I found most of my nieces and nephews on Face Book. That did it! I started a Face Book account and found out how to navigate through aspects of Face Book. I very cautiously invited 2 or 3 friends and then sat back. People invited me to be their friend and things just grew.

     I happily reported to my brother that I had started a Face Book page. He very flatly said, "We won't be on Face Book!" Less than 6 months later his wife was on Face Book because my brother thought it would be a good idea! So there's two of us with the same idea who changed their minds quickly. We could see the advantages to be gained from Face Book.

     From then on I followed what people were doing and reported my activities. Now I eagerly anticipate Face Book activities each day. So, since I joined Face Book in 2009 and am much over 50 , I fit into the 514% and am proud to be part of  that crowd.