Selfish man.

Things aren't going to well. We had to move upstairs because the apartment we were living in was cold, wet and very uncomfortable. I stole some lemonade from outside a pub and may of exaggerated the story a little bit to my brothers to sound cool. I continue to steal food and drink from the richer families of our town  which feeds my brothers and I. Because we have no fire, I try to go door to door and beg for coal but that gets me no help so I ended up doing what I always do and steal gasoline from my rich neighbours. Mam got sick and got a fever. After some guards came to the door asking why we haven't been at school, Grandma called the doctor and he said Mam has pneumonia and was rushed to the hospital. I really hope Mam is going to be okay.. While she is in the hospital, we are sent to aunt Aggie's. I don't like Aggie, she yells and beats us all the time. I got so fed up that I sent a letter to Dad in England telling him Mam is in the hospital, hoping he was going to do something. After receiving the letter, Dad returned home and we stayed with him until Mam got better and came back home from the hospital. Once Mam returned home, Dad went back to England and continued to refuse to send us his paychecks. Which is mean, unfair and puts us in a really bad situation. Mam had to beg outside churches for money and food, this really upset me. I which I could something to help. I hate seeing Mam like this. I know Mam is doing this because she cares for us. She has to stop accepting what Dad is doing, she needs to tell him how selfish he is being. I am happy he came back to take care of us while Mam was in the hospital but besides that, he is no help.

On our own

Dad is not happy because Mam wants to stop having children and she has to take something called birth control. She wants to stop having babies because of all the deaths she had to deal with and because of all the stress she is having. I think dad should understand where Mam is coming from.. People on our street are getting richer and richer because their husbands are going to England to work. Because of this, Mam forces Dad to go to England and get some money for our family. Dad promised to send the money he makes but while all the families are getting some money, we have not received some yet. Mam's friend says we should go get some help with money but she doesn't like that idea. The next day, i got a really bad eye infection and had to go see the doctor. The doctor said i had  conjunctivitis and had to go to the hospital. Once i returned home, i realized dad has to stop spending all our money on alcohol.  Mam is so stressed because we are receiving no money from Dad, she finally gets help. I feel bad for all the stress mam is going through.. This is all very hard on us. We keep thinking dad will finally be smart and understand how much we need money but he doesn't. He just keeps being selfish and spending the money on alcohol and things that aren't important.  I guess we are on our own for now.

It goes on and on

It was my confirmation into the catholic church today but I got very sick and got a bad nosebleed. It was because of my nosebleed that I wasn't able to get my collection which all the kids received after being confirmed. A few days after my nosebleed, the doctor visited me at home and told me I had typhoid fever. Oh god, not something wrong again. Because of how serious this fever is, I had to stay in the hospital and I was near death. But there is something positive about this, I met a girl, her name is Patricia. She is so nice and she showed me something called Shakespeare. Its not so positive because a few days later, she passed away. Why is everyone dying? After i return to health and got back home, I heard that because I missed to much of fifth grade I have to redo it instead of going up into sixth grade. Well that sucks. I am struggling a lot at school since I have a hard time walking. I hate the fact that Dad, spends all the money on alcohol but I love my mornings alone with him. I love when he tells me stories, when we talk and read the paper. I hate that we are living in such an unhealthy condition that it all makes us sick. I just want to be healthy and go to school.

Bad uncle

Poor Mickey, his siblings are always dying. Mickey asked Billy and I to pray that his sister wont die until September, so that he can get a week off school. Mickey promised us that if we pray for his sister, we will invite us both to the funeral where there is lots of food. Mickey's sister dies in September but doesn't invite us to the funeral like we were told. This made me very upset but Mickey soon died after. Grandma convinced me to work for uncle Pat delivering news papers which made Mam happy but I am not happy about the fact that uncle Pat doesn't treat me well and pays me poorly. This is not any help. Mam had a new baby, she named it Alphonsus, a name that I don't like. The baby almost died by choking on a dry piece of milk but Mam's neighbour friend Bridey saved the baby. Grandpa was nice enough to send us a check for the baby. Mam sent dad to cash the check but told Malachy and I to go with him to be sure dad doesn't spend it at the pub. Even though we went with Dad, he still ended up spending all the money at the pub. Because of this, I am forced to steal fish and chips for dinner. Mam will be very upset.

Fitan

I moved up a grade, I am now in fourth grade and I am happy about that. There's this guy named Fitan, he seems to be the teachers pet, I describe him as a dandified do-gooder. My friend Paddy and I don't want to be friends with him.  One day, Fitan invites Paddy and I over to his house and once we arrived we ate sandwiches and other treats. I went to the bathroom and Fitan went with me and says he enjoys looking at me. Paddy and I find this very weird and not normal. We were angry and decided to skip class to go steal apples and milk from a nearby farm. We were gone for a long time and when I saw Mam she was with a guard and said she was worried about me. I feel bad now. 

I am not a dancer.

I don't understand why my family isn't talking. Grandma isn't talking to Mam, Mam isn't talking to her siblings, Dad isn't talking to Mam's family and no one is talking to my uncle's wife. Why cant everyone just get along? Mam and dad had to get fake teeth because they're smoking so much. Malachy was stupid, he put the fake teeth and his mouth and ended up being sent to the hospital. While we were at the hospital the doctor saw how I was breathing with my mouth open and said I should get my tonsils removed. What are tonsils anyway? Mam wants me to take Irish dance lessons. I went to my first class and I felt stupid for going. Instead of going, I decided to skip my classes and spend the money on candy or the on the movies. Whenever I got home from class, I just made up a dance and showed my family. One day, Dad told me he knew I wasn't going to my classes since my dance teacher sent a letter asking where I have been. I hope Mam and dad aren't to mad at me..

A new friend.

Today I met my neighbour, Mickey Malloy. Mickey is very nice and I feel we are going to be good friends. I had my first communion and Mickey told me that the only good think about a first communion is the money you receive. I don't believe that, I actually appreciated the meaning of the communion more then the money. Mickey tells me many of his stories, I don't really like them because they are vulgar and I feel as if I am sinned. My grandma told me to go to confession and the priest told me to just wash it away with water. Because I had to go to confession, I missed my collection of money at my communion. I am upset because of this because I really wanted to go to the movies but I ended up going any ways (I sneaked in.)

Alcohol before family.

Dad got a new job at the cement factory, which makes Mam, Malachy and I very excited because were finally getting money and possibly go to the movies. This excitement was soon over when dad didn't come home Friday night after work. Mam, found out that dad was at the pub (which doesn't surprise me.) Mam was so upset, she fell asleep crying last night. Once dad got home (drunk as always) he offered Malachy and I a "Friday penny" which we refused. Mam was so fed up she made dad sleep downstairs.

It's as if nothing changed.

We have to move into a new house because our current house reminds us to much of Eugene. On a more positive note, dad got a job which we thought would help get a bit of money around here. But, nothing has changed since he spends it all on alcohol. Because of this, Mam is so stressed that she can't take a second out of her day to relax, she is always worrying. Mam decided to buy a pigs head for Christmas and I had to carry it home. You have no idea how how embarrassed i was having to carry a stupid pig home in front of my classmates, showing how poor we are.

A picture of my family.

This is a picture of my father, Malachy the top, Me on the bottom left, My mother Angela in the middle, my sister Margaret sitting on her and my brother Malachy  on the bottom right. 

My family and I.

My father Malachy, My grandma, my mother Angela, The twins Oliver and Eugene, my brother Malachy and me, Frank.

                                           

-1

It's been six months since the death of Oliver. Today, Eugene has joined Oliver and left me alone. Eugene died because of something else. Something called Pneumonia caused Eugene to die, and now I am here all alone. I caught my father drinking earlier today, guess he's not taking this well either. Mom started on some pills to try and help her out. Me? I've got nothing to help me out.

And then there were 2

Last night Oliver got really sick. We rushed him to the hospital, but it was pretty much no help. My family and I waited for some news from the doctor. after hours of waiting, the doctor came back with the horrible news. Oliver was gone. I will miss my brother, and will always love him. I can't talk about this any more.

There goes the new one

So today had to have been one of the worst days of them all. My Mom was rushed to the hospital because of something called a miscarry? Whatever that is. My poor Mommy, we are all so sad.

Not A Cold, But A Freezing Welcome

After returning from the police station, we headed towards Limerick where my grandparents live. Grandma gave us a room with only one bed to share. It was not cumfy at all. The bed was filled with flee's. I woke up in the middle of the night to my brother screaming because of these flee's. So far this adventure sucks. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

This is where my family and I live now. In Ireland.

This is me.

Apparently I play for the Yankees

So to kick off this blog, I'd like to tell you how I became part of the Yankees team. My family and I we're outside a bus booth when a guard asked what we were doing. So we explained to the guard our financial situation and the guard offered us to stay at the station. Once we got their we had to walk down the hall way of the prisoners. The prisoners didn't like the fact that we we're from the us... where they gave us the nickname " Yankees." So that was weird... I didn't really understand... To make things even worse, my dad had the opportunity to grab a bit of money for us to possibly buy a bed or food. But of course, he blew it by saying it was for alcohol. Better luck next time...

Bye bye red white and blue

You know what I don't like? Ireland. You know why I don't like Ireland? Because Dublin is there. You know why I don't like Dublin ? Because I'm here. You know why I don't like being here? Because it's too different. For starters, people talk ridiculously weird around here. I don't understand half the stuff that comes out of their mouths. It's difficult to adjust since my family and I are from the US, I hope things turn up soon...