ShoeShine Kids

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Mary Cullen. ShoeShine Kids

Dedication Page

Acknowledgments

Introductory Helen

Introductory Mark

Introductory Lyda

Introductory Betty

Introductory Charlie

Introductory Margie

Introductory Joe

Introductory Mary

Foreword

1 The Early Years

2 Without Mom

3 We Hit the Papers

4 Helen Gets Married

5 We Go to Court

6 Life Without ShoeShine Kids

7 Lyda

8 Breakdown

9 Getting Married

10 Losing My Baby

11 My Family Gets Bigger

12 Lyda Sick

13 Lyda

14 Lyda back in Hospital

15 Lyda Passes

16 ShoeShine Kids Stay Close

17 Moves Away

18 My Children Getting Married

19 Betty and Helen Sick

20 Betty Comes Home

21 Falling Apart

22 Betty

23 Breaking Friendship

24 Helen

25 Moving Away

26 Mark

27 Mark

28 Charlie

29 Charlie Wedding Picture

30 Margie's Husband Passes

31 Margie

My Brother Joe & Family

Epilogue

ShoeShine Kids

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I dedicate this book to you my Brothers & Sisters. I live in world now where it seems so different than the world we came from. Familys are smaller now and children have everything right at their finger tips. Sisters and Brothers are taught to be independent from one another. Our days were filled with each other and our imaginations. And our nights were filled with our imaginary Red car. There is no more outhouses, or Father, Son or Holy Ghost houses. I believe the struggle we shared made us so close to one another. I have everthing I need now, but I will miss you all everyday of my life. Thank You for loving me. Forever a ShoeShine Kid

When your mother passes and your father abandons you, I believe there is a feeling of not belonging to anyone. With this despair, I am amazed that my sisters and brothers had such love and empathy for one another. That is just one of the reasons I wanted to write this book. To me, they were truly amazing. I could never repay them for the repeated sacrifices they made to try and keep us together. To some, we were the orphans, but to each other, we were so much more than that. I wanted to complete this book to show the next generation how selfless you all were, and to show them how love can matter. To Lyda, Helen, Mark, Betty, Charlie, Margie and Joe, all of your children should be so proud. Years from now I hope your grandchildren, and their children, will see all the courage and dignity their family had, so many years ago, when they were only the ShoeShine Kids. I will love you forever.

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We finally did make it to the zoo. We had made enough money for everyone but me. Since I was the smallest, my brothers and sisters figured they could squeeze me through the bars on the fence that surrounded the zoo. Charlie paid to get in, and went around the side where I was waiting. Margie and Betty positioned me sideways, up against the fence. My body could fit through easily, but my head was another matter. Betty and Margie pushed and pushed until I cried. Lyda said,"If her head gets stuck we are in a world of trouble." I calmed down, and they pushed one more time until I fell on the ground on the other side. I think I still have the dents in my head, but we made it. Everyone else paid and we were so happy. On the way home, we laughed and talked about all the animals we saw, and which were our favorites. It was not long before we were back in our neighborhood, though. What a great day that we had.

About a block from our house was a corner store called Mike’s. As we neared the store, we noticed John, a man from the neighborhood. Every time he got drunk, he would buy all the kids in the neighborhood popsicles. He paid for them by putting them on the tab at Mike’s Store. He was a number writer, and at least once a week he would get drunk. The next day he did not look as happy, being thay he had to pay the tab at Mike’s. I always wondered why this man was so happy when he was drunk, especially since our father was so nasty when he drank.

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