[Trilby]

His family was poor during his childhood (in the '30's....whose family wasn't poor?) but they were the same as everyone else around them, money-wise. They were loved and healthy. The most telling thing is that his brothers and sisters are NOT like him (he's the oldest of five kids) they are, actually, a nice bunch. They love to laugh and get together. They all live close to one another - he's the only one who moved away.

His mother was definitely a "strong" woman and was boss of the house. His sisters are strong women, too. He married a helpless cheerleader who couldn't find her way out of a paper bag with both hands.

The only thing that may have been a problem was his dad would drink IF he had the money to do it, which wasn't often, and was out of work a lot, but so were a lot of people. His dad used to have to ask his mom "for an old dollar" to go to the bar. She held the purse strings and ran the household. She could be tough. And she was really smart. A smart, tough lady with five kids and an iff-y husband. That's his story. His dad keeled over in our bathroom when he was 55 - he smoked Camels (unfiltered) till the day he died. His mom lived to be 95.