I have four brothers… Tim, Kevin, John (also known as Jack) and James (also known as Jay). I'm fourth in the pack. John Sr. and Dolores are my parents… John was one of eleven and was a salesman…mom was an only child and a homemaker. The summer Murphy outings drew quite a crowd. Kevin and his wife Debbie have two daughters… Kelly and Katie, Jack and his wife Debbie also have two daughters Erin and Lauren, and, would you believe… Jay and his wife Janice have two daughters as well Kendall and Madison.

There were two other families in the neighborhood with the same "kid ratio," although the girls were the eldest in their groups. So, you could say I was "one of the guys" when it came to hanging out playing kickball, whiffle ball, football and pretend army. The summers were filled with walks through the woods across the street from where I lived. We usually played games in the morning, and then did arts and crafts in the afternoon at our local park, organized by the town recreation department. In the winter we would sled and skate across the street where there "used to be" a couple of great small ponds and a super cool long hill w/ a great vertical incline for great long sledding runs. You'd be so tired from hauling your sled back to the top that 10 runs would completely exhaust you. Unfortunately, like many towns, a rather large housing development has replaced the ponds and woods.

Sports played a major part of our family's life. There was always a baseball, football, ice hockey, field hockey or basketball game to watch, and visits to driving ranges to hit golf balls. Occasionally, we would walk down the street to the Assabet River during the evenings and fish off the bridge located near Wood Park. I soon came to realize that not all of my girl friends in school were as knowledgeable in these sports, and I owe it all to spending many days and evenings at baseball and football fields in the warmer months, or hockey arenas throughout the Commonwealth and Canada during the winter months. I can remember many times sitting at games beside friends, spending several hours explaining the rules.