A legacy of shame - Introduction

For those who have been asking, I will begin to tell my story.
Introduction

I was the oldest of a family of 5 at the time...later I would find out about the brother I never knew.

It was the normal ritual, Mom would be waiting for him to come home so they could walk up to the corner bar to party.
My older 1/2 brother would be left in charge along with me to take care of the kids. Yes he was 8 and I was 5 and then Sam was 4, Kim was 3, Kevin was 1 1/2 and Debbie was 9 months.
It was a warm night when they walked up to the corner.
They seemed to be in love, hanging on each other and acting like teenagers, almost as if they had never grown up, had 5 children together in 5 years. My parents never married, just decided to keep having babies without a commitment to each other or to a family.
Yes and there we were in their face everyday reminding them of how complicated their lives had become.

It was bath time for the little ones and of course, she was no where to be found, in fact, I believe she had run across the street at the time (Pennsylvania) and was borrowing makeup from the neighbor. I was trying to get Eddie (1/2 brother) to come and help me but he had been very sick over the last several months with polio. He had a limp in his right leg.

So there I was at a ripe tender age of 5 making sure that everyone was getting bathed before bedtime. While Sam and Kevin were taking their turns, I was holding Debbie and giving her a bottle...

it turns out that we were being visited by the police, because Kevin who was 25 months was walking on the sidewalk out in front of our house and the police saw him, stopped and decided to make sure someone knew.

Now remember, this was 47 years ago and that would be expected to be normal for them to bring him up to the door and make sure everything was okay except...

When he found that there was only an 8 year old and so on - left in charge of 5 kids...well, the next thing I remember is we are being swept away in a "paddy-wagon" that was what we called them then...and then, you guessed it, left at the orphanage.

Yep, back then it was an orphanage it was not "Franklin county children's services".
We didn't stay long that time, and it wasn't until later on (when I met up with my family) that I understood all of the reasons for why we didn't stay.
But as you might have guessed, it was not to be a permanent return to our home.

More to come...as I will try and post entries each night as I build my story.

For those of us whom are seekers of purpose, for those of us who know the feelings of abandonment, for those of us who feel an incredible void when it comes to roots...family characteristics, health issues and the like...
THESE posts are for you!