Confessions from the Sixth Child out of Seven

Tag: family

  • The Manning Quartet

    The Manning Quartet

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    by

    Mabel Houle
    in

    My sister Doris was born in 1944. She graduated from Flambeau High School in 1962, and started working at the school as a secretary. She lived at home, bought a car to drive to work each day and had money to contribute to the household. She would buy different food items from the grocery store…

  • Where do Babies Come From?

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    by

    Mabel Houle
    in

    My younger brother, Carl, was born in October of 1958 when I was four years old. The only memory I have about his birth, is that Pa took me and some of my siblings to visit Ole and Elsie Olson. Usually when we went to visit Ole and Elsie, our whole family went together, and…

  • Wynken, Blynken and Nod

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    by

    Mabel Houle
    in

    Or Wink-em, Blink-em and Nod as we called it. During my growing up years on the family farm, we lived in a basement house that Pa had built not far from the old house which stood closer to the road. The basement was built with the labor of Pa and my older brothers who harvested…

  • Father’s Day

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    by

    Mabel Houle
    in

    Each year on Father’s Day I experience this conflict deep within. Friends post amazing photos and tributes to their awesome dads on social media, and I sit silent. Silence has been a big part of my life. In my minds’ eye, my painful relationship with my dad began at the breakfast table when I was…