At the end of October, my brother had a birthday. He isn’t one that likes attention. I often laugh as of us kids, he probably got along least with my dad. It’s not that they had a bad relationship at all…it’s just that he was always closer to mom. T
The thing is though…Jim is much like our dad. He’s the fourth born in our family…my dad the fourth born in his. Jim is quiet like my dad…more of a homebody. Neither are big talkers but when they do talk have great things to say.
Growing up Jim and I bickered a lot. He picked on me and I did my best to get him in trouble. I remember hitting Jim, (mom didn’t see me), then running and hiding behind my mom yelling, “Jim is trying to hit me”…and he was! I deserved it but I was just trying to get him in trouble.
Even though we’ve grown…I still have a little part of me that likes to pick on him. He feels the same about me.
So last week when it was his birthday, I posted this picture on my Facebook wall…It’s my brother Jay on the left, Jim in the middle, and me. Jay is six years older than me and Jim four years older. Jim had a 60th birthday last week and I couldn’t let it go by without drawing some attention to it. Jim didn’t want any fan fare…no party…no recognition. Putting the picture on Facebook was about the best I could do. Call it little sister revenge. I love my place in the family as the youngest.
We actually have two more siblings. Our brother…
Jule is 11 years older than me and our sister Judy is 16 years older than me.
I’m taking a guess and thinking this was taken when I was six at Christmas time. We had gotten new clothes. We all got boots. Me, my fashion boots…the boys, cowboy boots.
Oh, I loved these boots and really thought I was hot stuff. The picture was on Instagram too. Several people who follow me said they remember having the boots too. Mine did have zippers on the side so they weren’t so hard to get on.
Notice the hole in my nylons. It was my first time wearing nylons. So not only fancy boots by nylons too…those were the days. Aren’t you so glad nylons aren’t a thing anymore? I know I sure am!!
Did you have boots?? Do you remember your first nylons?
I had a pair of these funky lace-up tennis shoes in second grade. Sadly, no picture of me wearing them.
I love boots…but back to Jim…
I’m fairly confident that I can say the picture above was likely the last time Jim was in a suit…except for being in a wedding. Nowadays, there is nothing that could happen to get him in a suit.
Here is me with my siblings in more recent years. Left to right it’s Judy, Jule, Jay, Jim and me. This is our birth order too.
Whenever we are together we try to take a picture with the five of us. We don’t get together as much as we’d like to. All of us have a pastel of grandkids. Judy has 20, Jule 17, Jay 6, Jim 11 and I have 9. Can you believe my parents have 63 great-grandkids? Oh my!!
That’s the back story on the picture of my boots and my brother’s 60th birthday.
This is a wonderful story! I too turned 60 last month. I am the youngest of 5 girls. Our brother came 11 years after me. LOL I noticed you and your siblings names all start with the letter J. My husband, 3 sons, and myself all have names that start with the letter J. Happy belated 60th birthday, Jim!
Sounds like you had fun with your siblings, probably still do! I had an older brother (died 40 ears ago) and he could be quite the tease, I miss him and his teasing – it was his way of showing love.
That was a wonderful story. Thanks for the peek into your childhood! Blessings
Sounds to me like Georgie has a lot of her gma’s orneriness!
I too had white go go boots. And yes, I remember my first pair of panty hose along with the pretty yellow dress with pastel stripe elastic belt that cinched at my waist. My grandma brought three packs of panty hose over for me and my sisters and I lost out and got the darkest pair. I still felt pretty, and so grown up.
Thank you for the wonderful memory. Many of my trips down memory lane aren’t good but your post brought me back to something I hadn’t thought about in years. My sisters and I faught like cats and dogs growing up and now we are the best of friends. Don’t you think as we age we treasure family more than so called “friends” and “things”?
When I was in 3rd grade (1953) I got white majorette boots for Christmas. My mother made me a majorette outfit complete with hat. I think I still have the pattern she used. I also got a Cinderella watch that year. That Timex watch worked for 40 years. Funny, the things we remember.
Sweet pic. And thanks for sharing the memories.
I was the last out of 5 so my clothes always came as hand me downs from both sisters and brothers plus cousins so new clothes shoes & toys were a rarity and probably why I prefer buying clothes at thrift shops goodwill and salvation army. My favorite gift was a brand new pair of size five white roller skates as I was the runt of the litter. My youngest brother and I are 15 months apart and we are just like like Bart and Lisa Simpson even at the of age 48/47 respectfully
Family is fun, a pain and caring. I had 2 brothers and a lot of sisters the boys were such teasers. They’re both gone now but some of my best and worst memories are of them. Thank the Lord I still have sisters. We are a lot closer now even though they all are at a distance. No boots for me .
I love seeing pictures like this – I don’t see my brother except maybe once a year.
Your family is as big as dh’s – well almost! Can you imagine ALL of your family getting together for a giant reunion? There may not be enough hotel rooms for you all! LOL!
“Those boots were made for walkin’ “…remember that song? :-) I had black suede boots in high school.
Love and prayers
You look so cute in your fancy boots, what a pretty smile! :)
I love hearing stories of large families growing up! I have one sister who is eleven years older. We weren’t close growing up because she was so much older and interested in different things. Now we are very close although we seldom see one another because of distance. With just one sibling we don’t have many large family gatherings . Now we have reached the age where we are losing members and that’s sad. Enjoy you large family and spend as much time together as you can.
Happy 60th to Jim! As our family’s photographer, I’m glad to hear that you and your siblings try to get a photo whenever you are all together, Jo. It’s a small thing, but it’s such a nice keepsake!
Jo, I’m the oldest of seven kids, so I know a wonderful family when I see one! Yours is certainly one.
Love each other and take care of each other. Know how lucky you all are.
Loved the story!! Brothers–Boots, teasing, and all the fun things with siblings. I only had 1 sister –10 years and a bit more older. Wasn’t the greatest relationship. I often felt like I couldn’t possibly belong in our family. She insisted she loved me very much in later years, had a hard time believing. She passed away 2 years ago at almost 92. Tried to get there to visit as often as possible -but was difficult because I couldn’t HEAR her. She left her hearing aids to me when she passed!!
How FUNNY your story strikes me –as today I kept having THOSE BOOTS WERE MADE FOR WALKING song going through my head– plus “I want a girl–Just like the girl –my dear old daddy had” song. ?? :-)
Wonderful to see the pictures too!! My youngest daughter is the one that always wants the pictures. I have a feeling partially-cause we don’t have that many of the six of us-and her dad’s been gone 36 years.
Anne