Late To The Altar

People sometimes wonder why Irish men here or in Ireland waited so long to get married.  The Famine.  Before the famine the Irish peasants got married quite young.  Then they had lots of kids.  When the famine came there was lots of death especially among the children.  A response to this was that the Irish male would wait until he had a job, steady income and a home for a wife and then children.  My Dad was 24 when he got married, but was going to wait longer because he had his mother to take care of.  He already wanted to marry my Mom.  Grandma  knew that my Mom was a blessing  for her son, so she said that she wanted him to marry and not worry about her (Grandma).  If my Dad had waited longer, my sister Maureen (the oldest) might not have been born, and I would have been the oldest, the boss and spoiled.  I wish my Grandma had kept quiet.