The one I grew up in
With fourteen of us living there
Oh, where should I begin?
Mom made a lot of powdered milk
Just one bathroom to share
Spaghetti was our usual meal
and never food to spare.
A moment of peace unheard of
While living with that crew
But loneliness was not a toll
And love I always knew.
Grandpa was our babysitter
Back in those childhood days
He paid us our allowance too,
Gram taught us to say grace.
The oddest thing ‘bout Gram and Gramps
Is that they were divorced.
Yet living in the same household,
Conformity unforced.
My parents taught us to behave,
and respect all others.
My aunts and uncles lived with us,
Three sisters, three brothers.
With fourteen of us living there,
Not hard to imagine
It was an old tired house of brick
The one I grew up in.
**this is a Magpie Tale, hosted by Willow. Follow the link here to read some fabulous stuff or to write your own. I'm also linking up to One Shot Wednesday, a great place for poets to meet, share ideas and poems, and learn...Happy Wednesday =)
What a delightful poem, so light and cheerful, counting all those experiences that create tolerance, thrift, sharing and above all, love! AND I undertood every word!
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful poem..there is a lot of emotions in this one..Loved this one very much.
ReplyDeletewonderful caty...so cool they lived together even though...and i know that on some level that meant something to you all as well ...sounds like they were good peeps....
ReplyDeleteCharming piece, Caty. Back in the day, extended families sharing a roof was commonplace. Today, we are lucky if extended families share a life. I think we must have lost something in the name of "progress."
ReplyDeleteThank you for commenting at my place. I appreciate it.
P.S. Every time I am here, I admire your "wallpaper." It's really lovely.
ReplyDeleteThis is so very charming. (I remember drinking a lot of that awful powdered milk.)
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely picture of what it's like to grow up in a big family! I'll skip the powdered milk though please. :)
ReplyDeletehow nice how very nice
ReplyDeletebut powdered milk...we had to drink that yuck too
but it was thrift at work
and love got us all through
Yes, very nice.
ReplyDeleteI Loved this Caty!!
ReplyDeleteI was raised by my Grandparents....
Lovely poem, your Grandparents sound great!
ReplyDeletebring this house to life! Nice.
ReplyDelete14 of you, how homely and lovely to be in a home with so many members.
ReplyDeletecheers.
You painted a beautiful picture of warmth and love in that old brick house.
ReplyDeleteComing from a HUGE family myself, I can relate to this delightful poem. Comforting.
ReplyDeleteExemplary, perfect for its tale-telling.
ReplyDelete