Confessions from the Sixth Child out of Seven

Tag: Pa

  • Larry Leaves Home

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    by

    Mabel Houle
    in

    My oldest brother, Larry, was eleven years older than me. I don’t remember much about him living at home with the rest of us. He left home when he was 16 years old, so I would have been five years old. Back then, a student could quit school at age sixteen and not be considered…

  • 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…