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Charles
arrived on August 28, 1995 in Malestroit, Bretagne
This is one of Ian's favorite photographs ever. It is August 28, 1995,
in the Clinique des Augustines in Malestroit, Britanny. Two hours after being
born we find Charles Allistair Tristan Stock cleaned up and conked out after all
that effort, in the arms of his mother whose remarkably serene expression belies
what she just went through not two hours before.
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Here is the new kid on the
block! First, Papa with Charles, then known as "sac à patates", at about two months in Le Tahu, the household's first home in
Hermeray. 
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Daphné and Alban flank "notre chouchou"
in Alban's bedroom at La Bellanderie in May 1996
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 Nick and Tom hold
Charlie in front of the
Christmas tree in 1996. It's Christmas!! |
Finally, the whole gang in a not entirely great mood in front of Grand-père's
cottage, La Grée, in July 1996.
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There are a host of pictures of big
kids with little kids here.
By the time he was a year old, Charlie was one of the most important people
in the lives of all four of his siblings. It does not sound surprising,
but the extent to which the natural jealousy of older siblings was absent at
first was
particularly striking. It had to do with the age difference, perhaps, but
there was something more tied to the blended nature of our family. The
older children know that they are not related by blood between the two broods:
but each is a blood relative of Charlie and Alex. The
two little guys turned us from a household into
a family.
Charlie's arrival was but one step in our blending. Here are others:
the wedding, support from the grandparents,
the older children learning to live together and blending.
Here is the main History page. And here's Charlie's
page.
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