1. Lost
The first episode of the Life of Reillys is about my getting lost as a two-year-old kid in a house of ten people. The photo below is my mother sitting on the back step of our house in D.C. with me beside her and my brother Kevin in the foreground. If anyone knows who the little girl in the pretty dress is, please comment! Click here to read Lost.
2. Watch
In this episode, Brian and I escape yard work and are attracted by the glimmer of our oldest brother Dennis’ watch. A trip upstairs to the bathroom didn’t end well for the watch. To find out what happens to the watch — and us — click here.
3. Heights
As hard as it is to describe Midge Reilly, mother of the entire brood, I’ve begun in this episode. She was a house-painting, priest-challenging mama lion. There are sure to be more episodes on her in our future. The photo below is my mother and father when they only had four children. Click here to read Heights.
4. Moe
My beautiful, courageous sister Maureen features in this episode. It wasn’t always easy being the youngest of four strong siblings. She is the wild woman with her arms crossed in the photo below. The photo is (l-r): Joe, Missy, Mom, Dad, Moe (on Dad’s lap), and Dennis. Click here to read Moe.
5. Sergeants & Ghosts
It was a magical time to grow up in our neighborhood in D.C. in those decades. My brothers and our friends built a two-story fort (plus basement!) in our side yard. The photo on the left is Kevin and Brian at Joe’s wedding and the photo on the right is the fort we built. Click here to read Sergeants & Ghosts.
6. An Irish Wedding
When my brother Dennis married Geraldine O’Mahony there was an all-out Irish celebration with singers, dancers, and a lone Irish piper. But my favorite part of the celebration was tearing up and down the halls with Katherine, Geraldine’s younger sister. The photos below are (l-r) Geraldine at a beauty contest, Katherine and me with my mother and Tom Foley, and my Great-Uncle Bill McAuley. Click here to read An Irish Wedding.
7. BFFs, Pt. 1
The summer of ’67 was a great year — I met some of the dearest friends I have today, including Carol and Melinda, who are featured in this episode. Back then we spent our days laughing at nonsense and, well, thinking/talking about/looking for boys. To read this episode, click here. As you can see in the photo below from our wedding, John Brinkley has always been a sport about my girlfriends.
8. BFFs, Pt. 2
This episode of The Life of Reillys features the antics of Kate and Lisa, from bleeding madras in her backyard during a summer storm to getting towed to the Rehoboth Beach police station in our Thelma and Louise phase. The photo below is Lisa and me and some random monkeys on Gibraltar with an inset of Lisa as a teenager. To read about how it all began, click here.
9. Christmas Eve
Growing up with ten people in one house can be a bit of a circus on any evening, but Christmas had it’s special challenges — and joys! The combination of toddlers and teenagers in household could be especially tough, especially when the teens were acting like toddlers! To learn about what happens when a few teenagers come home after midnight mass, click here.
10. Crybabies, Cigars, and a Hog
In a big family, child-rearing is often a collaborative effort. We were taught to protect one another. My brother Brian took this directive to heart. He always had my back…sometimes when I thought he could have left my back alone. To read more about Brian’s protective streak, his affinity for cigars as a ten year old, and the motorcycle he rebuilt when he was fifteen, click here.
11. You say alligator; I say crocodile
Kevin and Brian both liked reptiles as teenagers, but Kevin was the one who perpetrated the great caiman heist at the National Zoo. If I had been my mother, I would have stopped going downstairs to do the wash. But she was made of stronger stuff. To read more about the reptilian creatures who inhabited our house, click here.
12. If you’re going to San Francisco…
In the late sixties, I went to visit my sister Maureen in San Francisco twice, once with Kevin and once with my friend Claudia. From wandering the streets of Haight Ashbury and seeing Hair at the Fillmore, we thoroughly enjoyed our summer vacations. You might say these were life-altering events. To read more, click here.
13. The Man Who Loved My Mother
Since I started writing these posts, I’ve wondered how I would fit my dad into the number of words these blog post contain. This begins my attempt to bring Joe Reilly to The Life of Reillys. Half Humphrey Bogart and half Atticus Finch, he was a pretty cool guy. He left an Irish ghetto in Pittsburgh to be a part of some pivotal moments of the first half of the 20th century. To read “The Man Who Loved My Mother,” click here.
14. Lawyers, Guns & Money
This episode of the Life of Reillys is about my brothers, Joe, Kevin and Brian, climbing out of and back into the house, rather than using the front door. This one also includes a retelling of the night my mother surprised a burglar at Jocelyn Street. To read “Lawyers, Guns, & Money,” click here.
15. A Lifelong Alliance
The past year has been a good time to reflect on friendships that last a lifetime. This episode of the Life of Reillys is about the friendship between the Reilly family and the Bradford family. One such alliance brought into being three of my all time favorite people. Not to mention the addition of my sister-in-law Lane to the Reilly clan. To read “A Lifelong Alliance” click here.
16. The Sky Is Not the Limit
This latest episode of The Life of Reillys features my brother Kevin, who had been injured in a motorcycle accident on East-West Highway, jumping out of an airplane to show us all what we’re capable of. As I have often told people, Kevin makes his siblings look like slouches…in spite of his disability, because of it, who knows? Maybe he’s just a remarkable guy. There’s a video clip of his first jump from Channel 9 in Washington included. (To read the post, click here.) Well done, brother!
17. When John Met Kate, Part 1
The latest episode of The Life of Reillys features my high school boyfriend, I mean, my husband, John Brinkley, who taught me how to play pool (and that starts with P) and to not write the end of the story before you actually get to it. To read the post, click here. The photo below is John’s back, me with my niece Nina, and my my mother in the backyard at Jocelyn Street.
18. If this isn’t nice, what is?
In this episode I’d like to introduce you to our first grandson, Hal. Mom, Dad and baby are all well. Although I think “easy labor” is an oxymoron, I will say that everything went well. I’ve also included something I wrote for Maeve and Bo when they got married. (To read If This Isn’t Nice, What Is?, click here.
19. All Roads Lead to Pittsburgh
Recently we took a trip to Pittsburgh to visit my stepdaughter Katie and her husband Dave. We were so happy to see this place where the rest of their history will be written. In this post, I’ve written about Katie and Dave’s life to come in Pittsburgh, as well as visiting the place that was home for my father growing up, a place I had never been before. This tale is the beginning of the Reillys’ story in America. To read All Roads Lead to Pittsburgh, click here. The photo below was taken of the city from a spot not far from where my dad grew up and where Katie lives now. The insets are Katie and my grandmother, Annie O’Connor Reilly.
20. When John Met Kate — Again! aka Part 2
Here’s When John Met Kate — again, aka part 2. Who knew this was going to happen? Okay, don’t answer that! In this episode of the Life of Reillys, we meet John Brinkley as a bona fide adult with a nine-year-old daughter. In life, change is a constant. And yet, some things never change. The photo below is our wedding cake with an inset of John, me, Katie and Maeve. To read this episode, click here. Enjoy, my friends!
21. Things That Go Bump in the Night
Some families share red hair or athletic prowess. The Reilly family’s predilection is for talking and walking in our sleep. Our mother was a lifelong sleepwalker, as are my brothers Joe and Brian. And me. It could be a little noisy in the Reilly household in the middle of the night! To read this episode, click here.
22. Nuts from the Same Tree
This particular trip down memory lane is about my lovely sister Missy and her wicked sense of humor…and big heart. She may have driven fifty mph downtown in the center lane of Reno Road during rush hour, but she was always there for her siblings with a hug and a word of advice! Our world views have sometimes collided, but, ultimately, we are sisters, which overcomes all else. To read this episode, click here.
23. Every Dog Must Have His Day
It’s perfect weather to take a four-legged creature for a walk down a tree-lined path. If this is your groove, or if you just like reading about our canine friends, you’ll want to read “Every Dog Must Have His Day.” This episode includes a few Kerry Blue Terriers, several Rottweilers and an Old English Sheepdog. I even threw in the Reilly Russian Blue cat for good measure. To read this episode, click here. The photo below is of Mom with Maggie as a puppy (or maybe that’s Mike!)
24. An Abundance of Marjories
When my mother was nine months old, her mother died of sepsis — the result of an illegal abortion. When Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court recently, this seemed like an important story to tell, as complicated and emotional as it is. In “An Abundance of Marjories” I’ve tried to present the story of an event that changed my mother’s life dramatically. And the lives of her children as well. To read this episode, click here. The photo above is of Mom as a toddler in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Life of Reillys 