A Moment in Time, Circa 1974.

I was married in 1973 at the tender age of 19.  My first husband Tom came from a small town in south eastern New Hampshire.  It was there, on a beautiful summer day that his family totally blew a gasket!

We were outside in the back yard:  aunts and uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters, parents, and friends.  Tom's mother Pauline wanted to take a picture of her children (4 boys and 1 girl) before we all sat down to eat.  It was a pretty normal family reunion up until that point. 

The trouble started when the siblings lined up for the picture taking.  Tom, the eldest reached across and pinched the nipple of his younger brother Joe.  Then Joe pinched him back when he inadvertently hit his brother Rick in the stomach with his elbow.  Rick hit Joe back, or pushed him.  Youngest brother Jeff trying to help and he gets in on the brawl.  They all pile on top of each other on the ground while the youngest, Teresa, age 11 scurries out of the way bawling her eyes out.  Pauline ran off crying and Ray joined a couple of uncles in the melee, fists flying.  It sounds funny now but it was damned scarey at the time.  I can remember leaving after that.  One of the worst Christmas's ever for me.

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One other time they engaged in another family brawl, but this time it took place indoors at Christmas time.  Nothing like a little family feud to spice up the holidays! 

We hadn't been married very long...a year or so.  We had been invited to his parent's house on Christmas Day.  We were all sitting in the living room near the decked out live Christmas tree, probably having coffee or spiked eggnog.  It was just the immediate family.  I think Ray had been hitting the home-brew already and was feeling his oats early in the day.  Perhaps the same could be said for some of the others, I can't remember. 

Everyone was talking and the television was on in the background.  There may have been Christmas music playing, somewhere in the house.  Teresa was sitting on the floor.  Ray was a very racist person and he happened to be mouthing off about the "coons" or something.  I was disgusted with his comments, but I sat back and watched the horror unfold.  Jeff was sitting near me and he spoke out to his father about his racist comments, by saying something back to him.  I spoke up and agreed with what Jeff was saying.  Ray's voice got louder and angrier, and Jeff's voice grew louder than that.  Before we knew it, a fist fight had broken out and the other family members were trying to break it up.  I think Jeff and his wife left right after that and we may have as well. What a circus!