The Callans and McClarys, by John Edward Callan - Callanworld

The Callans and McClarys
Margery and little Albie on “The Hill,” in front yard of Nancy
and George Nunamaker’s home in Naples, New Yor. ca. June
1968.
both arms loaded. He had
stuffed animals, candy and
everything else, and he was
smiling ear to ear. The woman at
the hospital thought he was the
husband. I said, no it’s my uncle.
He was just so proud to have
someone to carry on his name.
Then we brought Al home
to Coldwater Road. We had him
in the downstairs bedroom, so it
would be closer to us. That was
in the days when were running
around with our friends the
Gagnons, the Eisenhowers, and
Betty and Andy, Jack’s sister and
her boyfriend at the time. Andy
was the father of Beth and Joey,
the twins. But that was later.
A few months after Al was
born, we were going down to the
Gagnon’s, to a big Fourth of July
picnic. I had Al in the crib, but
by the time I got the other five
kids ready, the first had to be
changed again, so I told dad to
start getting the kids in the car,
and put Al in the car bed.
So we get down to
Gagnon’s about a half block
down the road, I go to get Al out
of the car bed and he
wasn’t there. He was
back at the house in
the crib.
Needless to say,
we took off running
to go back home. He
was fine, sleeping
sound away, no
problem. I brought
him down to the
party and carried on
from there.
Next, we moved
to Hilton, and that’s where John
started school. We stayed there
one winter, then we moved to
Irondequoit, and all of the kids
were in school except for Al, so
he was my constant companion.
Actually it is a miracle he
turned out as well as he did. He
was like an only child the first
five years of his life, and when we
moved up to Eldon, it was the
same thing. And yet he didn’t
turn out to be spoiled at all.
When we first moved to
Rochester, there were no kids
around, because they were all in
school. So one day Al goes
knocking on doors in the neighborhood,
and asking who ever
answers if they have any kids for
him to play with. That’s how he
met the retired couple next door,
Millie and George Endress. He
used to spend all his time over
there.
I started working when he
started kindergarten. Mum and
dad (Peggy and George Gunkel,
Marge’s mother and stepfather)
used to come down for the
weekend. This one weekday I
~ 60 ~
had made
arrangements
with George and
Millie to watch
Al before I got
home from
work. I used to
work at Loblaw’s
(grocery store). I
would go in at 10
and get off at 2,
and Al would get
home from kindergarten at
noon. There was a bus stop right
in front of our house. He used to
go to Millie and George’s next
door until I got home from
work, for that two hours.
Well it was a holy day, and
mom and dad were there, so
George and Millie figured my
mom and dad would be there for
Al. So they went to church. Al
went off to school in the morning.
And I went to work at ten.
When Al got home, there
was nobody at George and
Millie’s, and there was nobody at
our house. And it was raining. I
had sent him to school with a
little pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
So he went down the street
knocking on doors. And there
was another George, another
elderly man. So he takes Al and
brings him up to the store where
I was working.
Poor little Al was sitting up
in front of the store when I
found him, crying constantly,
because he was scared to death.
He felt like he was abandoned. It
took him a couple of weeks
before he would trust me again
that I was not going to leave him.
When he got outside it was
raining, and we went out of
Loblaw’s, hanging on to me like
he was never going to let me go.
I walked to work, so
George said, I will give you a ride
home, and Al didn’t want to get
in the car, he was afraid I was
going to drop him off someplace.
It took Al a week before he
would go to school without
crying.
Al might not have been so
alone if his father had had his
way, Marge jokes.
“Dad wanted twelve. He
wanted a dozen. I spent 54
months being pregnant. But after
Al, they told me I couldn’t have
any more. In those years, if you
were Catholic you couldn’t use
birth control. Finally my doctor
went to the priest. The doctor