| General Non-Fiction posted July 6, 2022 | Chapters: |
...7 8 -8- 8... 
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an essay
A chapter in the book Random Rhyme and Petty Prose
A Quick Count
by Bill Schott
I am the sixth child of six, making me the baby of the family. That came with both good and bad realities.
What was good was the total protection and catering that I experienced from my mother. This caused me to be despised by the others, especially my next older brother, who had been displaced by my arrival.
I've lost all of my siblings now, except my oldest sister, who is twelve years my senior. Those in between sought to be apart from family and on their own.
Ann, the eldest, left for the Army at age eighteen. This was during the Kennedy administration. I think she would have preferred the Peace Corps, but the commitment was longer. At the end of her two-year enlistment, she left the service, married, and had four boys. They rarely visit anyone -- from our family.
Leonard, the next oldest, left for engineering school, was drafted into the Vietnam War, married, and then rarely visited anyone. He passed from leukemia.
Muriel, third in line to the throne, married right out of high school. She divorced and married another man immediately. They moved to Alaska in the mid-seventies and never returned. She passed from malnutrition.
Robert, the juvenile delinquent of the family, married out of high school and began factory work to support his wife+. He passed from mesothelioma.
Albert, the next older from me, graduated from automotive engineering classes and moved to Alaska in the seventies. He died from complications from gangrene.
I expect my sister to outlive me, as she is a happy grandmother with a happy family.
My wife promises me I will die from either natural causes or an accident, whichever is more convincing.
I am the sixth child of six, making me the baby of the family. That came with both good and bad realities.
What was good was the total protection and catering that I experienced from my mother. This caused me to be despised by the others, especially my next older brother, who had been displaced by my arrival.
I've lost all of my siblings now, except my oldest sister, who is twelve years my senior. Those in between sought to be apart from family and on their own.
Ann, the eldest, left for the Army at age eighteen. This was during the Kennedy administration. I think she would have preferred the Peace Corps, but the commitment was longer. At the end of her two-year enlistment, she left the service, married, and had four boys. They rarely visit anyone -- from our family.
Leonard, the next oldest, left for engineering school, was drafted into the Vietnam War, married, and then rarely visited anyone. He passed from leukemia.
Muriel, third in line to the throne, married right out of high school. She divorced and married another man immediately. They moved to Alaska in the mid-seventies and never returned. She passed from malnutrition.
Robert, the juvenile delinquent of the family, married out of high school and began factory work to support his wife+. He passed from mesothelioma.
Albert, the next older from me, graduated from automotive engineering classes and moved to Alaska in the seventies. He died from complications from gangrene.
I expect my sister to outlive me, as she is a happy grandmother with a happy family.
My wife promises me I will die from either natural causes or an accident, whichever is more convincing.
What was good was the total protection and catering that I experienced from my mother. This caused me to be despised by the others, especially my next older brother, who had been displaced by my arrival.
I've lost all of my siblings now, except my oldest sister, who is twelve years my senior. Those in between sought to be apart from family and on their own.
Ann, the eldest, left for the Army at age eighteen. This was during the Kennedy administration. I think she would have preferred the Peace Corps, but the commitment was longer. At the end of her two-year enlistment, she left the service, married, and had four boys. They rarely visit anyone -- from our family.
Leonard, the next oldest, left for engineering school, was drafted into the Vietnam War, married, and then rarely visited anyone. He passed from leukemia.
Muriel, third in line to the throne, married right out of high school. She divorced and married another man immediately. They moved to Alaska in the mid-seventies and never returned. She passed from malnutrition.
Robert, the juvenile delinquent of the family, married out of high school and began factory work to support his wife+. He passed from mesothelioma.
Albert, the next older from me, graduated from automotive engineering classes and moved to Alaska in the seventies. He died from complications from gangrene.
I expect my sister to outlive me, as she is a happy grandmother with a happy family.
My wife promises me I will die from either natural causes or an accident, whichever is more convincing.
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