Two and a Half Dozen

A young couple from opposite sides of the country with opposite upbringings meet while in the Navy. They quickly fall in love, marry, and start a family that over the course of the next twenty years expands to Two and a Half Dozen children. "Your mother is pregnant and we will be bringing home a new baby in April " As their father looked around the table at his children, he met gazes of mixed elation and "so what?." For at least one of his offspring, a feeling not short of disgust at the thought of her parents actually creating another baby, became clearly evident. This baby would bring the family count to ten with eight children all tolled. Most of the children had difficulty recalling a memory of their mother not being pregnant so that day's news, while creating a slurry of differing emotions, really did not hold any surprises. From burning a set of "falsies" as a first act of marriage, to transporting a mason jar filled with cockroaches across the country, Brenda Barrios-Fasching captures the antics that ensue and the life experiences encountered by each child as they grow into adulthood. Life lessons from each member of the family paint a portrait of the life and times of just one family playing a part in our Americana.