Readers of my vintage may remember a long series of features in newspaper and/or magazines, under the evocative heading "Believe it or Not!", featuring self-explanatory material about an individual or place with an unbelievable background, occupation, etc., etc.
Illustrations, photographed or drawn, caught readers' eyes by cleaving to the traditional picture-worth-a-thousand-words rule, followed by a paragraph fully explaining the distinctiveness of each peculiarity,
It never occurred to me that I might have been thus featured for universal admiration, envy or - heaven forbid! - even condemnation or ridicule.
Then, one recent morning, an e-mail from my son, hurriedly sent due to the day's demands, fed me the following terse message: "The morning paper, discussing the changing demographic, published a photograph of a modern oddity - a family with five children!"
The youngest of five myself, and the father of a corresponding multitude, I was sure something was missing. Replying promptly to my eldest, I admitted puzzlement, and asked in what publication the item had appeared, and what additional information may have made it worthy of mention. I was at a loss, I pleaded, whether to think of myself as being avant-garde or a relic.
Promptly I received the reply, informing me that the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix had, in that particular issue, printed "lots of articles about shifting demographics", covering such considerations as who would pay the pensions of these unusual families, and who would take care of "the old people."
My son went on to admit that perhaps a family of five could be considered large, and he could "only think of a few families with four kids (apart from blended families), and none with five or more even peripheral to my circle, so I suppose it is unusual. Or maybe I need to think a bit harder.
"Casting my mind back to childhood," (still quoting my son) "I can't think of a lot of five-kid families in our circle, but I also don't remember anyone saying we should get our picture in the paper for it. A lot of people my age seem to come from even larger families."
After some mental harrumphing upon the item and the reaction of my eldest to it, I had to admit that while our five children slightly exceeded what we had prayed or bargained for, I really had considered our horde at least within the realm of normalcy. Certainly it had never been suggested, or entered my mind, that I belonged to a special minority, perhaps deserving public recognition.
Pondering further on facts and realities, I had to admit that of my five, all wedded, none has more than three offspring nor are likely to have more.
Well, a picture might be nice, and someone might suggest that Weyburn's statue of Tommy Douglas be moved over a tad to leave room for another individual of note.
But then I remember - a fact that had slipped from my son's memory - there had been a family or two on our crescent or within a block of it, with five and even six youngsters.
By golly, families just may be worth another column, if readers could be induced to send me relevant memoirs at Ernestly, c/o the Review, or e-mail to ernestly@sasktel.net.
Anyway, folks, thanks for the government pension you have graciously yielded me for the past dozen years (and counting).
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