Think six or eight kids is a big family?

Try 22:

Lucille Miller of Waseca, Minn., who bore 15 girls and seven boys and raised them on a farm with the help of her organizational skills and the buddy system, died Monday in Waseca. She was 83.

Miller was 17 when she had her first child and 43 when she had her last.

"We didn't intend to have this many children," she said in an April 17, 2000, Star Tribune article by Chuck Haga. "But it's been wonderful to have them and watch them grow. They're all individuals."

Miller also took in several children who needed homes over the years. She led two Catholic women's groups at her church and founded an organization to set up group homes for the mentally disabled in Waseca.

When I clicked the link, I was sure that some of the 22 would turn out to be adopted --- nope, she gave birth to 22 children over 27 years, from about 1940 to 1966. Read the whole thing, and the earlier article too:

Diane Miller, a New Brighton attorney, was No. 8 - "the youngest oldest kid" - and one of just a few who lived with all of her siblings, arriving before Ramona left and still at home when Damien was born. She cared for two of her little sisters from the time they were a year old.

"I was 9 when I got Helen, 12 when I got Alice," she said. "Mom always had the new baby."

There were seven bedrooms in the farm house, and up to five children to a bedroom.

"I remember a lot of rides in the wheelbarrow from the granary to the barn," Diane said. "I remember a lot of grinding feed, a lot of egg washing and packing, a lot of sitting by the wood stove in the basement, singing songs as we candled eggs."

And she remembers each of her brothers and sisters, naming them in order of birth without hesitation.

"We always did it with our prayers at night," she said. "We can say the chain of names just like we're singing a song."

It is really a beautiful story, and it seems to be out of another era.

Comments

[4ddintx]

Wow! There are days when my four with one on the way is overwhelming. I so admire large families.

Thanks for sharing that beautiful story.

Tabitha

[Kelly]

What's with "she remembers each of her brothers and sisters?" Most people have 22 or more relatives by the time you name off grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins of various types. Do we have trouble remembering any of their names even though we only see them at holidays?

Actually, one of the medical aids at my doctor's office is one of 22. I said "Your mom didn't breastfeed, did she?" She said, "Actually, no, she didn't. How did you know?"

[mrsdarwin]

That is absolutely amazing. Wow.