Brian
Biography
One of the narrator's boys; has some of the Christmas ornament balls made by the narrator's mother. Accompanied the narrator on the three-week western family vacation. Accomplished things the experts said he never would; no specific accomplishments or relationship to the narrator stated. Named in the narrator's discussion of using “Bewitched Bothered and Beguiled” to explain the pronunciation of Guild.
Timeline
date not given
Brian surpasses experts’ expectations
Robert lists watching Brian accomplish things experts said he never would among his proudest achievements.
Bob's Chapterdate not given
Three-week family vacation out West
A five-thousand-mile trip in a new 1975 station wagon, including several days with Bernie in San Francisco and visits to friends in San Bernardino. The passage gives the car's model year but does not explicitly date the vacation.
Bob's Chapter
Stories mentioning Brian
- A Mother's Everyday Care and Treasured HandworkRobert remembers his extraordinary mother's work raising seven children with help from her dad, Iris, and neighbors. Childhood in the four-room house on 39th Street included Saturday baths in a galvanized kitchen tub, an outhouse, clean school clothes, cocoa with a peanut butter sandwich, and repeatedly reused lunch bags. His mother made thirteen-egg angel food birthday cakes, tended and canned a large garden's harvest, and silently taught him to pick beans thoroughly by collecting three more buckets after he said he was finished. He treasures her doilies, Christmas ornament balls, and Santa dolls; his boys Steve and Brian also have ornaments.
- Five Thousand Miles and Still FriendsRobert recalls his best family vacation: three weeks out West with Sue, Steve, and Brian in their new 1975 station wagon. Their route included mountains, parks, cities, several days with Bernie in San Francisco, Universal Studios, and friends in San Bernardino. After five thousand miles, he marvels that everyone still liked each other.
- Dances, Sue, and a Life TogetherRobert recalls his first dance in ninth grade, new clothes from Mom, bus travel with his date, and dances at Coolidge Junior High and the Moline swimming pool. Through his high school friend Bob Warner, he met Bob's sister Sue. They dated for six years and married in 1960. He describes thirty-six years of marriage until her death from cancer in 1996 and forty-three wonderful years together. He celebrates her organizing, friendships, their trips and regular nights out, her care for Steve and Brian, and her love for their four grandchildren.
- A Family Name That Rhymes with WildThe narrator wonders why the family says “Guylld” rather than “Gild,” asking whether British origin and old vowel pronunciations might explain it but offering no answer. He explains the pronunciation by rhyming Guild with “wild” or referring to “Bewitched Bothered and Beguiled,” adding that this would work for Barb, Bob, and Brian as well.
Referenced in
Family corrections
Notes sent in by the family and approved on review. They sit alongside the original record — the book's wording is never changed.
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