Instant family.

William Bernard was known by family and friends as Bill Bernard. He was my step-father and had married my mother, Dorothy, in 1967. This was his second marriage and her third. I never knew my real father and Bill Bernard was the only father I would ever know.

Bill and Dorothy’s marriage only lasted 9 years, but he remained my father even after the divorce. It was his house that we had family reunions and where I went to when I wanted to go “home”. My mother brought 7 children with her into the marriage and became pregnant with twins in 1970.

I had always been impressed that a bachelor in his late 40s would take on so many children, but I believe he had wanted a big family, and marriage to my mom gave him an instant family. He had come from a good-sized family. He was the youngest of two brothers and an older sister. Each of his siblings had several children.

In November of 2018, when he was 97 years old, he had fallen at home and had severely injured his neck. During my lunch break, I had gone over to the hospital to see how he was doing, and when I walked into the room one of the nurses asked which number I was. Unsure of what she was referring to, I had asked her what she meant and she told me that my dad had said he had nine children and she wanted to know which number I was. It was little moments like those that reminded me of what a kind-hearted man he was. He still considered all of us his children. He never divorced us and for that, I will always be grateful.