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Just Thom, Jeff and Jamie at the octagonal parquet table tonight. And here we are with another entry in the annals of life at 28 Spring Street in Malden, MA. Our matriarchal leader is jettisoning the riff-raff like a lost installment in the Death Wish franchise. First mission was to reclaim the nights for sleeping. 

All five of us kids were reunited throughout the summer of 1980 in that house. Jamie and Justine were unceremoniously thrown out of dads house, so they were there from day one. Tommy and Tracy were taken for weekend visitation a month or so later and never returned. A lengthy custody battle ensued. And Jeffrey returned home when the system had no reason and nowhere else for him to go. 

All because dad bounced and left her gleefully holding the bag, watching the ship sink from a couple doors down while his kids were scattered to the wind. The house was lost and a new plan was hatched. Mum bought a house that would generate income while she worked three jobs to support her five kids. And we all worked to keep the house under majority rule for those first few years. 

It always struck me how many photos we have as a family, even with all the turmoil. Mum was obsessed with her kids is my takeaway. Film and time was not cheap, so the fact that they all exist is the logical conclusion for me. There are just about no photos from 80-83, which is a shame since it was the most colorful time.