I thought I would take a couple of minutes (o.k. probably hours) to tell you something about the people ( my family memembers) in my stories. I will try to do this in a way that makes sense.

My parents Jim and Annette were married in 1959 my older brother Jim was born in 1959, he was a premature birth. I believe he was born two months early and weighed 2 lbs 2 oz at birth. Jim had to stay in the hospital until he matured a little bit. Liitle Jim and I (George) got along great, which when you're brothers includes fighting.Jim was looked up to by all of us younger brothers and sisters so it is a good thing he is a good guy.

I (George) was born in 1961. I am known as the talker, my mother used to introduce me as her son, "Jaws" because I talked non-stop. I also am the one who is most likely to remember almost anything about growing up, and keep anything that has to do with my life either as a child or now.I have always loved the country life and my mother says,"George is the perfect name because it means farmer."I believe I have a good sense of humor and try to live everyday without hurting anyone in any way.I love my family and try very hard to remember as much as I can about growing up so I can share these stories with others.

My brother Bobby was born eleven months after I was born. Bobby was born in 1962.There are a lot of stories about Bobby because we were so close in age and did almost everything together.Bobby is smart and is always up to date on the latest fashions. Bobby is outgoing and has more friends now than I've had in my entire life.He is also a jokester and I have to admit anyone can be a target of his pranks.Most people believe Bobby and I are twins and even the two of us have mistaken each other in photos.

Tina was born in 1963. Tina is pretty and we have always compared her to Marilyn Monroe or Jane Mansfield. Tina is the one most worried about being embarassed by me but, I promise to not be any harder on her than I would be with any of the others or myself.

Deneen was born in 1964. She is as I say, "The runt of the litter." We had ancestors who were "Midgets" as we called them in the 1960's Now I believe they are called, "Little people" so I guess Deneen is a little person but, then again none of us in my family are to tall. Deneen is fun and I don't think she has an enemy.Deneen is so sweet.

Michael was born in 1965. Michael is very crafty, he can fix anything that is broken. He is into nature and enjoys working in the woods. Michael is one of those people who gets everyones attention with his laugh.

Kent was born in 1966. Kent is the youngest of us seven kids Mum and Dad had together. Being the youngest of the seven was tough for poor little Kent. Us older kids picked on him a lot but he came out of his childhood in one piece so, I guess we weren't to hard on him.

Mum and dad divorced in 1967. Dad remarried and this brings in my other Mum Violet.

Mum (Vi) is the perfect mother. Her and my real mother are equals in my eyes. They both worked hard, along with my father to raise us kids to grow up good. Whatever they did it worked, none of us in jail yet.

Mum (Vi) brought into my family my four step brothers and sisters, when she married Dad.

Dwight is my age. He was born in 1961. He has brains, brains and more brains. That guy is smart. My memeories of Dwight are of him studying and if he weren't doing that he was reading evrything that had writing on it as we were eating. He would get a whole days lesson reading cereal boxes, milk cartons and the plastic on loaves of bread.

Kevin I believe was born in 1963. Kevin loved life when we were kids. Kevin and I spent a lot of time together while growing up. Kevin was the one you hung out with if you wanted a little excitement in your life.Kevin could do a great "Chicken dance".

Shelley was born in 1964 (I think) Shelley was born to have fun and at times torment all her brothers and sisters. I always had a great time with Shelley no matter if we were fighting or getting along she was just plain fun fun fun!

Carla was born in 1965 (again I think). Carla was as bright as Dwight. Carla loved watching Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers neighborhood. Carla and I did not always agree on who should get the television when we were kids. Being bigger I could preety much watch what I wanted until she ran crying to Mum or Dad. Carla was very serious at times but could turn right around and be silly.

All of my step brothers and sisters are every bit my brothers and sisters as my real brothers and sisters. I love them all equally no matter if the are real brothers and sisters or not.

Dad and Mum (Vi) had one daughter together and her name is Kim. I believe Kim was born in 1969. Kim was always laughing. She was very rarely ever sad while growing up and everyone loved her to pieces. When ever I think of Kim the first thing that comes to mind is her smile and then her laughter.Dad and Mum are still happily married.

Mum (Annette) would remarry and have three kids with her second husband.

Paul was born in 1969. He was very spoiled in the beginning and all of us brothers and sisters loved him very much. Paul is probably the most withdrawn of all of us. He was fiesty as a little boy and a really reckless boy. Paul was always the one to most likely get hurt and he did often.

Kandi was born in 1972. I had to pretend I was sick at school so I could come home early just to make sure I was the first one of her brothers and sisters to see her. She has always been like a little angle to me. Not only did Kandi laugh a lot when she was a little girl but she could also have a temper which only made things worse because she was so cute when she was mad that you just couldn't resist but make her mad.

Angie was born in 1975. She was always the sly one. She was so addorable though. She also could be very bossy so you had to stand your ground with her. She knew how to get your attention and usually she was so cute with her ways that you gave in to her demands.

Mum and her second husband divorced in 1977 (i think).

Mom met a man but did not marry him. Together they are the parents of my youngest sibling C.J.

C.J. was born in 1978. He was the spoiled one for sure. Everyone loved him and showered him with attention. He is the one who would either sit beside you on the sofa and lay his head on your shoulder then fall asleep or he could walk by you and cuff you up side the head. It was very rare that anyone would get mad at C.J. and stay mad for long, after all he's the baby of the family.

Mum started having babies at 15 and stopped at 35 years old.

Those of us who were born in the 1960's had it much tougher than those born in the 1970's. Us kids who were born in the 1960's grew up on farms and had to do farm work. I believe our lives seem so unreal to our younger brothers and sisters who were born in the 1970's.The younger kids did live on farms but since they were to young to do any work before we moved from the farms I doubt anyone will ever hear them talk much about the country life.

My stories pretty much tell you what kind of life us kids had growing up.In my stories you will read lots of stuff about me growing up on the farm(s) with all my brothers and sisters (sometimes we did let the adults in on the fun too).

I thought I would share this bit of info on my family for those of you who have read my stories and are just a little curious. :-) George

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), February 02, 2002

Answers

What a wonderful family, George. It sounds like you are very proud of them. I come from a big family (Marine Corps brats) and our life was very different from your country life, but some things in your stories sound so familiar to me! As for Deneen, funny you mentioning she being a "little person", because I have just seen some specials on TV about little people. I wonder if she saw them, too? George, did any of the '60's kids in your family who grew up rural, hate it and run to the city as soon as they were old enough? I hae seen that happen a lot. The grass is always greener, at least for a while. I can't tell you how much I enjoy your stories! Keep 'em coming!

-- Debbie in MO (risingwind@socket.net), February 02, 2002.

Thanks for the background(I'd still like to see the photos put into the book though). I can just imagine the get togethers. I wish I had more siblings and as good of a memory as you have about the details of growing up.

-- Terri in WV (mrs_swift_26547@yahoo.com), February 02, 2002.

Debbie,I was the one who ran to the city (Miami)when I was 18. I did not want anything to do with the country. I wanted to be a part of the big city and meet interesting people (which I did meet).I went to Miami with $135.00 in my pocket.I knew no one there and had no place to live or a job to make any money. Within 12 hours I had a job as a dishwasher and a small apartment I shared with three other guys who had just moved to Miami.Two of them were hustlers and one was a night auditor at a motel. I actually lived right off Lincoln Ave in Miami Beach.I only lived there for a short while. I met a man and woman who owned a company that made special equipment to ship livestock by air and I went to work for them.I worked for them for years. Years later I would see the same kids who arrived in Miami at the same time I did sitting on bus benches, selling themselves for a burger or drug money.These kids were my age but looked so much older because of the years of taking drugs and living on the streets. I still tell myself to this day how lucky I was.

I was able to travel around the world because of my job and I was able meet some very interesting people.

Everytime I saw someone I recognized I would think to myself how lucky I was that I never had to do that. And, even though I was offered drugs many times while living in Miami I never took any and maybe this is the reason I was not one of those kids I would see sitting on a bus bench waiting for a car to pull up. I lived in Miami from 1979-1988 and then lived in Daytona Beach from 1988-1995. In 1995 I moved back to the country. I live in New Hampshire now.George

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), February 03, 2002.

Terri, my family has never been all together in one place. Some of my family I have not seen in 25 yrs. I would love the chance for us all to be together just once. If we were to have a family photo of us all together we would have to collect individual photos and cut them out then glue them to a big sheet of paper.

Even though we do not see each other very often we do keep up to date on what is going on with each other.

When I was a kid I swore I would do everything in my power to keep my family together but as you get older you learn that each has their own life and no matter what you do you can't stop anyone from living their own lives. I was the first to break away from the family and set out to see the world on my own. There were times when I would not have any contact with my family for months at a time. My family at times thought maybe I was dead and would even call the police in Miami to see if they knew anything about me.

The longer I was away from my family the more distant I seemed to feel from them. I felt like I was more like the kid you went to school with, you always remember them but years away make you feel like you no longer know them. I got to the point I was afraid to see my family because I thought we had nothing in common anymore. Once I made the leap and went home I found out I felt just like I never left. I am planning a family get together at my place this summer and I hope all my family will be able to attend so we can have a family photo of us all together.George

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), February 03, 2002.

oh George, oh George, oh George, I am not a little person, I am just short. I had to laugh at the response about the little people program. If I can make it up this summer I will have little Jim beat you up for saying that, just kidding, Love Ya Deneen, By the way I am a whole whopping 4 feet 9 inches.

-- Deneen fl (Gradydubose@aol.com), February 04, 2002.

Oh Deeny, Deeny, Deeny you're little. When you say how tall you are it seems bigger than when I am standing next to you.I am only 5'4" but oh how tall I feel when we're standing side-by-side.Love you little bit.:George

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), February 04, 2002.

Georgie, Georgie, Georgie,

Please don't make us any older than we already are. I was born in 1967, Shelley in 1965, and Kevin in 1964. Your so talented and so sweet to say such nice thing about everyone. I haven't read all your stories but I WILL. Can't wait to see what you remember about me. Well, gotta to go, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood is coming on! Ha,Ha!

Love Your Little Sister Carla

-- Carla Bechard (carlieraeb@hotmail.com), February 23, 2002.

Hi Carla. Sorry, kind of hard to come up with these dates and get them right all the time. I wish you would all stamp your birthdates on your forhead so I can keep them straight.

I love you too!

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), February 23, 2002.