Charlie and Florence

Charlie was born in Pennsylvania in the 1920s and lived there his whole life.  He was just a baby when his father left him, his mother, and his older sister behind.  His mother hadn’t had a job, so the unexpected abandonment put her little family into a serious financial bind.  Charlie’s early years were difficult enough that he dropped out of school in the eighth grade and got a job to support the family.  He made sure his sister finished high school, and then when she wanted to go to college he continued to work instead of finishing school himself, so she could get her degree.  She finished her degree and became a high powered career woman, something unusual for a woman in the early part of the century, something of which he was very proud.

 

Charlie continued to work at the railroad, a blue collar man with an honest job that didn’t pay much but kept him out of trouble.

 

A decade after Charlie was born, a scared Pennsylvania teenager gave birth to a little girl who she knew she couldn’t keep.  A loving young couple quickly adopted the baby girl and raised her as their own.  They named her Florence.  Florence met her birth mother a few times, but they didn’t end up ever having a close relationship.  She never knew her birth father.  However, her adoptive parents were parents enough, and Florence, their only child, enjoyed a lower middle class upbringing.  She, at least, was able to finish high school, and even took a few typing classes after graduation.  Florence was brought up a Catholic, and remained absolutely devoted to her faith through her whole life.  This unwavering commitment would have enormous impact on her entire future, in ways she could never have guessed as a young girl.

 

Charlie and Florence met some time in the 40s, when Charlie was a cook in the army and heading off to war.  One of the only remaining pictures of the two young lovers shows Charlie in his army uniform, cap on head, smiling with his mouthful of crooked teeth.  Florence, apple cheeked and titian haired (according to the tinted photograph), stands next to him in a blue dress.  Her smile is just as genuine.  They are a happy pair, then and always, though they will never have much money.  They will never own or learn to drive a car.

 

They marry, and soon after, in the height of summer, 1948, their first baby is born.  Her name is Catharine Mary, and she is a round and fat and happy little girl.  Charlie doesn’t make much money at the railroad, and Florence doesn’t do much better at the various odd jobs she takes, but their strong Catholic faith means that Cathy won’t be an only child for long.  She is soon joined by Charles Edward, Jr., then Elizabeth Marie, Frances Walter (Buddy), Steven Paul, Michael Joseph, and Robert John.  At night, the children recite each other in their prayers: "And God bless Cathy, Chucky, Betsy, Buddy, Stevie, Mike and Robbie."  Charlie’s sister, the career woman whose degree he funded, finds her uneducated brother and his brood of children to be a shameful embarrassment.  She cuts off contact with them, meaning the kids effectively have no cousins, no aunts or uncles – only each other.

 

The family lives in a declining suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in a split level duplex that they own.  The rent out the other half to various other families.  One winter, the children are out playing with the two brothers who live next door.  The oldest boy is throwing iceballs, and at one point he hits his younger brother in the temple.  "Ow," says the younger boy, and shakes his head, but they all continue playing.  That night, the little brother dies in his sleep of a brain hemorrhage.  The family moves out soon after, but Cathy and her younger siblings remember for the rest of their lives.

 

The family suffers some setbacks, partly due to their perpetual struggle for money, and partly due to their environment.  There is not enough money to buy butter for their toast – Grandma’s house is where they go if they want something so fancy.  On spaghetti nights, they get ketchup on their noodles rather than tomato sauce.  It is a poor life with few extras, but they are a close and relatively happy family, raised in the Catholic church.  Their faith gets them through some tough times.  Stevie is shot in the abdomen one day, but survives.  Chucky is cut up with a broken bottle by a gang of troubleseekers.   Wilkinsburg is a violent place.  But, fortunately, all seven of the children survive into adulthood.  All seven of the children also survive their mother, who, unlike their father, will not make it out of Wilkinsburg alive.