Filling the Gaps M


y wife has a the- ory that the sec-


ond child


has to fill the gaps the first one leaves available. It wouldn’t work to try and outdo the first child what


at the


first child a l re a dy


does, so the second child goes in a different direc- tion. If the first is shy the second is outgoing. If the first is quiet the second is


loud, and so on.


As the oldest child, I was never given


a


curfew... it was never neces - sary. My brother, child num- ber


two,


had strict curfews. I can still hear feet


his ruin-


sidewalk as the clock was striking twelve.


ing up the There


were times when he would sit on the curb out- side the house waiting, so


Upbeat Family, Life & Living 2019 by Gabriel A. Fraire of Healdsburg, CA ~ gafraire@comcast.net


he wouldn’t arrive home early.


In some ways this sec- ond child stuff scares me. My second child is your typical


second child.


Now, when she is defi- ant, (“No, I don’t want to.”) it’s no big deal. But I think what my friend said. “Girls are nice when they’re young so they can be horrors when they’re teenagers.”


The guy who told me this has two sons. They all


came by to visit.


While I tried to visit with the dad, the noisy, the chaos, the banging, the boys made was crazy. At one point the house shook


when one boy was tossed into the wall by the other. When they left nothing was broken but my calm.


I feel blessed to have girls – teenage years and all.


EV Program ...continued from page 7


nesses, energy and water conservation, and demand-re- sponse. To view the results of the


2018 Drive EV program, visit DriveEV.org for an in- teractive dashboard.For More information:


Kate


Gabriel A. Fraire has been a writer more than 45 years. He has written fiction and non-fiction books, plays, po- ems, music lyrics, and news articles. But, he writes about his children exclusively for the Upbeat Times.


Kelly,


Director of Public Relations/ Sonoma Clean Power ~ kkelly@sonomacleanpower. org • 707-978-3468


I decided in my


life that I would do nothing that did not reflect positively on


my father’s life. Sidney Poitier


An independent local Community Bank since 1890


Personal and Business Checking and Savings products and services: • Loans–Consumer and Business • Online Banking with Bill Pay and Paperless Statements–It’s the Greener way! • Youth Savings programs • ATM locations throughout Sonoma County for your convenience • A Customer Service team dedicated to answering your call before and after business hours


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Pg 8 • JUNE 2019 • UPBEAT TIMES, INC.


I’m a father; that’s what matters most. Nothing matters more. ~ Gordon Brown


Gabriel


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