I remember when all six of us were young; Doug, Jeff, me, Mark, Jenny, and Matt.
Thinking about the birth order, Mark and I were the middle children. Matt was the baby of the family. Doug and Jeff were the oldest. Jenny looked like Mom and was the baby girl.
I didn’t get overlooked because I was the oldest girl. Mark wasn’t overlooked because he was always with Doug and Jeff. Matt of course got most of the attention from everyone. Jenny looked just like mom said enough. At that point Jeff was in the middle and he had both Doug and Mark and Matt’s back.
I remember one night when all us kids had to go to bed. Six kids and three bedrooms. Doug and Jeff, Mark and Matt, me and Jenny. Doug and Jeff were the oldest, their room was up a few steps from Mark and Matt’s room. Such a cool room the only one up those steps, red and black buffalo checked carpet and “away from the rest” of the family. There were only about five steps... Mark and Matt wanted to be with their big brothers. They would sneak out of their room and crawl up the steps trying to be unseen by our father. When Mark and Matt were with their older brothers they were in heaven, the kingdom. I’m not sure whether Matt felt lonely when Mark left the room, so he followed Mark. When our dad found out Mark and Matt were in Doug and Jeff’s room he’d walk over to the bottom of the steps and willed Mark and Matt to get down and into their room. Done, you’d think...no no no. There was nothing on earth that would bring Mark and Matt down, giving us all a laugh. Would dad let them stay until daylight or call them down again...no lunch, no dinner only bread and water...come down now. Mark and Matt would walk down the steps and into their room with an apologetic look on their faces.
The next night was the same, only this time Doug and Jeff enticed Mark and Matt. They were “devil-like” tempting Mark and Matt. At various times there were snakes, frogs, turtles, baby alligators and an iguana in that buffalo checked room. More incentive for the two. Mark and Matt made it back up the steps. Dad knew it would happen. Now Dad stood at the bottom of the steps full military stance, triangle like, “Mark and Matt get back in your room”. They crawled quickly down the stairs and right between Dads legs. They hopped back into bed and covered up as if invisible. We all laughed and not surprisingly my dad laughed too.
Heaven is found in many ways, and this was one of them. The family peeking out of our bedrooms watching yet another escapade without even leaving the house. Without leaving each other. Heaven on earth. Amen
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