Ash

Not like he designed it to not be home, but just like he wasn't always available because he was literally across.

Because he was literally in a truck across the state.

Yes.

Thank you.

Author Joe Nickel, we will link his book in the show notes, wrote, it was a fact that harmed his marriage and kept him largely a stranger to his children.

Which is very sad.

That is sad.

I know.

Now, Andrea is a lot less negative, though, in framing her father, but her description of him, at least in their younger years, was a lot less warm than her memories of her mother.

She wrote, his acknowledgments were always more subdued and understated, always a critical mention of room for improvement, though meaningful nonetheless.

So obviously their mom was home more, so they were a bit closer with her.

Yeah, of course.

With their father out of the house more often than not and their mom responsible for five young kids, the girls kind of turned to each other obviously first as playmates, but then as they grew up, they kind of became caregivers for one another.

Like the older girls helped with the younger girls and so on and so forth.

This dynamic seemed to suit Carolyn more than the typical parent-child relationship.

Andrea said that she was less a caretaker and more a playmate.

She took great pleasure in their company.

Just like six besties living in a house.

Hell yeah.

Now with a big family and the need for some extra help, Roger and Carolyn ended up moving back to Rhode Island in 1964, and they settled in a small Cape-style house in Cumberland, where the schools were good and they both had family nearby if they needed a sitter, yada yada.