My earliest memory takes place during a move my family made when I was about 3 1/2 years old. It was 1964, high summer, and we were starting a long drive from Buffalo, New York, to Long Island. My father was filling up the car at a gas station, while my mother, very pregnant with her FIFTH child remained in the front seat. My memory jumps into being as the gas station attendent peered through the window at the other four children, including myself, lined up like stair steps across the back seat. He counted us, then looked at my mother's swollen belly. "God bless you M'am!" he said with feeling.

It made a big impression on me; perhaps it was the first time I realized I was part of a "big" family.

Tags: funny, sentimental, large family, buffalo ny, long island ny, five children

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