The big double bed seemed enormous to us, even though there were four of us in it. Two at the head, two at the foot. Ma would plug in the iron and when it was hot enough she would take it upstairs and run it over the sheets before we got in. Heaven!
On colder nights the Da's overcoats were our extra blankets, and woe but we felt the sudden loss of their warming weight when he took them off the bed to shield himself from the bitter wind and rain before he set off on his long walk to work in the morning!
The warmth of brothers. I can still feel it now. The youngest may be in his mid forties, but my little brother still 'clings' to me at times. And I still try to give him as much 'warmth' as I can.
I remember so well picking him up from junior school on my way home from 'big' school, what was I, 8 or 9? We are often mistaken for each other now, what with the bald heads, and the odd scars! Peas in a pod.
If I could save time in a bottle? I might have seen things, but I was a kid too. Might have worked for Mr. Croce, but time goes on, and we get older, and our baby brothers get older. But they are still our baby brothers. And we still give them warmth. Still watch out for them.
Da's overcoats on our bed.
Ma sitting on the bed, singing us to sleep in that cold bedroom.
Love this post, a little of life as a little Map. As it was then and much better for it are you!
ReplyDelete(son of Yoda)
I didn't have to share my bed, but I remember my mother making a make-shift hot water bottle out of a washing-up liquid bottle filled with hot water and wrapped in a tea towel :)
ReplyDeleteAh yes! Holding dear the memories of yesteryear. Being close to your siblings warms the heart. I have memories of brushing and braiding my youngest sister's very long hair. She's 5 years my junior and we are closer today than even back then. The hardships you grew up with didn't exist for me, as we had good houses (thanks to the Cdn Air Force) but no money for 6 kids, so making do with whatever we could get and inventing ways to play and have fun were everyday occurrences. I'm glad you and your brothers are close. xoxoxo
ReplyDeletewhat a poignantly beautiful chapter of your family life you share with us, map! my life was much much different in every way, but for one - and that is the love i had/have for my own little brother even though he has long since left me here - it was i who was his caretaker, just like you to your little brother - and you are very lucky to have him with you still!
ReplyDeletethe warming of the bed, however, reminds me of visits to my favorite aunt's home during winters - it was a beautiful modern home of the times but the "space heaters" didn't warm anything other than the room air - so every cold winter night, aunt mae would place several hot water bottles in my bed to get it warm and every cold morning, she would get out my clothes for the day and stand and hold them in front of the heater to warm and then bring them over to the bed so i could hop straight from warm to warm!
thanks so much for sharing your beautiful memories - and yourself -
xoxoxo -
We had the oven plate from the oven heated by the coal fire.
ReplyDeleteI quite miss icy sheets sometimes. Cherish your little brother - mine left too early.
Your family posts are always very touching. I was the youngest by eight years, with two older brothers.. I mostly remember them tormenting me (like tying me to rope-swings and leaving me dangle over the river, and leaving me on the roundabout in the playground, after spinning it to a billion miles an hour)... but I know thay would be here in a shot if I needed them.
ReplyDeletethese are such wonderful stories from your life, sugar! it's the small things that helped shape us. i sometimes wonder how different would i be if only there'd been others to share a childhood with. xoxoxox
ReplyDeleteAs the oldest of three brothers, all very close in age, I find it increasingly difficult to lord it over them as we approach our forties.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, they're still my little bros though.
Tempo; Ta pal, it's funny how reading other peoples memories can jog our own. :¬)
ReplyDelete(Go raibh maith agat Séamus MacBradaigh!)
Kim; Sounds quite dangerous! :¬)
ReplyDeletePon; I don't know if we (kids) ever thought of ourselves as being brought up with hardships, it was the way, and we were like everyone else around us. And yes, we are all (including young Sis) still very close. :¬)
xxx
GYPSYWOMAN; Auntie Mae sounds wonderful!
ReplyDeleteLosing is sibling is indeed a terrible thing, my beloved big Sis has been gone almost two years now, though I can still hear her laugh and see her big smile! :¬)
xxx
Pat; Ma says she likes nothing better than getting into icy cold sheets! (She'll be 86 this August!) :¬)
xxx
the watercats; Big brothers eh? :¬)
ReplyDeletexxx
sav; I used to wonder what it would have been like to be an only child! I hope it wasn't lonely, but as you say, these things shape us.
I wish you luck and love in your latest life episode, you are indeed a wonderful woman! :¬)
xoxoxox
The Jules; Amen!
ReplyDelete(Thanks for the follow! :¬)
I only have an older brother, whom I have good memories of as a young 'un, but who is now a twat that I haven't spoken to in I don't know how many years. I do sometimes miss the relationship we had asw kids though.
ReplyDeleteThe cold winters - growing up in the UK - have lleft many memories..........my dad making us 'ferret food' for breakfast (chunks of thick white bread, with hot milk & sugar) & crowding around a tiny little gas fire, in an equally tiny 'front room'. The groceries were kept in a cupboard halfway up the stairs & the 'coalhole' housed the freezer, a very wise investment in the early 60's. My dad was the first one to instal a bathroom in our house, which was in a terrace of 8. Homes without bathrooms were simply the norm in those days :-)
Wonderful memories you've shared Map - thanks!
Hang twenty coats up and blindfold me, I'll still be able to tell which one is yours just by the deep pockets for your short arms.
ReplyDeleteJinty McGinty's, 7pm... I'll get em in.
That was beautiful, Map.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was the 9th of 14, and everyone slept three to bed. Me, I shared only with my sister...
Pearl
Jayne; Bathroom eh? Very posh! 'Twas the Belfast sink for us! :¬)
ReplyDeletexxx
Jimmy; I'm runnin' late, keep that stool warm for me. (You did say you're gettin' 'em in? Nothing like a new experience to brighten yer day!) :¬)
Pearl; 14??? Are you sure your grandparents weren't Irish? :¬)
ReplyDeletexxx
i remember your beautiful posts of your sister - my brother died in 1991 - but many times i'll be standing in the kitchen and feel him behind me - grinning - and waiting for me to move over just a bit so he can grab the spoon and taste whatever i might be making - or i'll hear the sorrowful sound of an ambulance siren and my heart weeps still - do you think there will come a time when it won't seem like only yesterday? i think not - hugs - gypsy
ReplyDelete