The Reality Of It All
Its only fair to ask, since its been several years since Marie's passing, whether Charlie has considered that a new wife and mother could benefit his life and that of the family. The answer is that Charlie has considered this, in fact had met a charming lady of similar age that he admired very much and that he introduced to the family. Their relationship prospered and the family became quite fond of Miss Marion but as time passed it became apparent that for her to take on the responsibilities of seven children was beyond the scope of reality. This came as no surprise to Charlie since he was well aware that raising the children was becoming more and more difficult as the the boys were becoming young men and Kathleen a young lady.
Its also fair to ask whether the family is really as good as the Social Services report portrays. And the answer is that the family was no different than other families with frequent pranks and mischief that all children engage in. The Mrs. Pettis affair could be used as an example although their motivation was to protect themselves from what they considered improper treatment. A more borderline event could be the boys taking the children downtown to see movies without Dad's approval and especially since there was a possibility of running into Dad whose office is nearby the theaters. In fact, they believed that Dad saw them at least once but chose not to make an issue of it.
Kids are "just Kids"!
The Finnigan kids were not unlike other kids in their studies, their wants and desires and their ingenuity. They had endless ideas for projects, hobbies and money making endeavors. The boys were always building model airplanes and gliders from balsa wood struts that Dad bought them and they cut, pinned and glued on a board, then assembled and covered the plane with tissue paper. They launched the planes from the upstair's bedroom window keeping score of whose plane flies the farthest. After several flights and crash landings, they would make one final, blazing flight, setting the planes on fire as they launched them!
One day Dad arranged for the Salvation Army to come by and pick up some throw aways. When the truck arrived the boys spot a BB gun on the truck and negotiate a trade for their family's donations. From the upstairs bedroom there is a clear view of the street and the parkway that separates the traffic lanes. The grass on the parkway is cut weekly by a man riding on a tractor with a side mower. The boys take a couple of shots and hear a loud BLING as the BBs hit the tractor. While the boys are reloading the driver makes a quick U-turn and drives back up the street. When he returns he's carrying a garbage can cover to protect himself but the boys are happy because they can hear an even louder BLING when the BBs hit the cover. This scene is repeated throughout the summer months.
Learning about Annuities
Jud Harlow, the next door neighbor, worked the night shift at an auto assembly plant, returning home each morning to sleep. One day the younger boys are roller skating up and down the sidewalk and quite by accident discover a new way to make some pocket change. After going back and forth in front of the Harlow's house several times, Judd comes to his bedroom window and asked the boys to stop skating there. Boys will be boys and so they continued to skate and Judd appeared again and says if they will go somewhere else to skate, he would give them each ten cents. The kids say OK and Judd opens the screen and throws the money down on the driveway. The boys learned what annuities are and the money rolls in all summer. When winter arrives, not a problem, they just walk back and forth with shovels scraping on the sidewalk.
