My Nieces & Nephews--the 1st wave

...I think this is as good a time as ever, to get to meet some of my little buddies, growing up, my dear, sweet, nieces & nephews...Really, the first wave of the bunch, only range 6-12 years younger than me and we pretty much had a complete ball...growing up together...

...Of course, we have to go way back to 1970 when the whole kiddie train express began rolling thru the O'Leary depot...Boom...!!!...Right out of the box...Young Charlie, Eddie, Colleen, Mike, Michelle, Thomas, Carrie, Pat, Kate, Patrick & Petey & Bridget...all came screaming into the world...Every single one of them...a pure joy to be around...

(Really, we should include Jimmy & Johnny & Katie Fitz...too...because they were not too far behind...and equally enjoyed the chaos...and let's just throw in Joey & Sean & Kevin & Kelly & Danny & Shea who would rock into this world...sometime down the line in the 1980's & beyond)

...There was never, ever anything less than an endless amount of laughter and good times as we played all kinds of games...together...growing up...Oh gosh, back then...I'd pick them up & toss them around...and give them all piggy-back rides...until I'd collapse...from exhaustion...And at that point, they would all be yelling...Do it again...!!!...Do it again...!!!...

...It was such a precious time, almost a golden era, itself, seeing these little tykes, chewing on their pacifiers, running around in their diapers, always full of fun...Of course, our times we shared together up in Lake Geneva...are just permanently imbedded in all our minds...

It is just unmistakable, not to recall, chasing each other around the blue/green shag carpeted living room...My Mom had this funky GREEN SHAG BALL...and it was huge & heavy...and we'd roll it back at each other...or run into the back bedroom and make some neat forts out of the bunk beds...

...Those old bunk beds...when transformed into forts...were just about the coolest thing in the world to these young kids...draping a blanket from the upper bed, over the lower bed...creating a hidden oasis...for those huddling inside...giggling & giggling away...almost never wanting to leave...those forts...because it was like no other place they could imagine...

...Also, out in the kitchen, in those olden days, we had these swivel bar stools around the tall, circular kitchen table...It truly was unique...and I don't know how many times, these tykes came close to falling off the bar stools, because they all loved to spin & spin...around & around, until they were out of their minds...dizzy...

We celebrated a ton of birthday parties out at that table, all the kids gathered around a burning candle-lit cake, spinning & spinning...Just having a good time, amidst their Mom's & Gramma scurrying about to fill their plates with ice cream & cake, trying to get things all pulled off, without someone crying or making too big of a mess...

...Of course, bed time up at the LAKE HOUSE was immense fun...because all the kids were winding down from a day of complete joy...piling into the pink & green alcove genie bed, or somewhere nearby...once again...giggling away...as me or Gramma or their Mom's would read them a bed time story...all of us caught up in the moment...gently folding page after page...with the kiddies eyes...nodding off...every now and then...

...then daybreak would come and the kids were off to the pier or off to the beach or out onto the Granny Franny for a delightful adventure ride...We'd always be counting off the life preservers we'd need for this huge assemblence of kids...

God, some of them, absolutely hated wearing a life preserver....and who could blame them...they got awfully hot to wear with the sun, beating down on them...and they were so bulky & heavy...and their clasps had to be adjusted constantly because these kids were quite a handful...

...It wasn't uncommon for the kids to jump up next to Gramma who always sat in the back of the boat, feeling the sprays from the waves coming aboard and drenching them, with water and with laughter...Gramma always had extra beach towels...aboard...to cover the kiddies...when they got drenched or needed away to hide from the sun...that seemed to blaze down from the sky...

...Just some amazing, amazing memories...out on the Granny Franny...with all the kiddies...Sometimes, I really think my Mom & Dad had every intention of buying the boat for us 8 older kids...but it soon became obvious...all the tiny grandchildren just loved every minute aboard the Granny Franny...even more...You just can't buy that much fun...these days...because they were much simpler times...and things were so much more relaxed back then...

...Today...parents huddle over their kids...every single second..expecting the worst...from their children's every tiny little movement...But back then...we all didn't mind a little danger...Grampa was nearby...or someone like Grampa...who could easily just swoop down...if need be...and we were all quite lucky...because none of us...ever fell overboard...or ever had any kind of stressful moment...

...Of course...Gramma always loved to pick up toys from Schultz's or Ben Franklin...They could be squirt guns or rubber balls or little balsa wood airplanes...or frisbees...and on and on and on...

...Playing frisbee or tag or the unforgettable baseball games in our backyard at the Lake House, are also etched permanently in our brains...I'd love to make our whiffle ball--baseball games as realistic as possible...even though we were only using plastic FAT ALBERT bats...that would belt endless homers...up...and over...the roof...

...What an incredible display...of popping one...way up high...or way out into Barney & Grace's yard next door...We all just had a knack for easily manage jumping from our yard into a 3 foot drop into Barney's yard to quickly retrieve the ball as someone was scampering around the bases in glee...just glowing they had just parked one out on their Uncle Jim...

...And sometimes...the plastic whiffle ball would get lost in the huge density of shrubs and foliage that lined the perimeter of the Yellow House...It would stop our games...and we'd all gather sifting through the shrubs...with someone always shouting triumphantly of finding the ball...

...Also...our neighbor to the right...Bev...would sometimes...keep our ball..if we hit it out onto her deck...where she liked to relax and look out at the water, drinking a beer, listening to a ball game on a transistor radio...We'd almsot form a SWAT SQUAD mentality, if we knew we were gonna have to form a search & rescue team...to sneak onto Bev's deck and scavenger back the ball...

...You really could go on & on...the horse rides, the go cart rides...going to PLAYLAND or the RIVIERA in Lake Geneva to play old video & pinball games...some of those...which still remain there...to this very day...

...And we always had a gaggle of good times back on 86th Street for holidays or an occaisional visit...All the kids were just happening at such a rapid succession, that it seemed our good times woulde never, ever end...and even as the children grew...they all had such a big smile, recalling those precious moments...with Gramma...with Grampa...with their brothers & sisters...with their cousins...with their Mom's & Dad's...and Aunts & Uncles...

...All moments...steeped deeply into their very fabric...of who they were and who they are now...for the traditions of good times...and love and laughter...were truly unique & special in every which way...

...I'd love to pull out some especially great moments that occured from each of my nieces & nephews, perspective, of the impact they had upon my life...individually...but we are talking 21 kids...and such a wide array of stories and I'd hate to put more emphasis on one story rather than another...

Basically, they all know, those were some of the best times, we ever had...and there really is never, ever gonna be a shortage of time...to bring back those memories, together, whenever we still...get the chance to talk or visit...

...Many of my nieces & nephews have their own kids...these days...and the joy they share with their children almost reflects the spirit of good times...they had as children...way back then...long, long ago...back in the 1970's...just a heartbeat away...to many of us...even to this very day...