Old Friends and playmates

This week my old friends and playmates have been on my mind and in my heart a lot. I guess it's because we received word that another one has passed away. This one 5 years younger than I am.
I grew up with a family that  had 15 children,The last 4  all boys came along after I married so never got to know them like the other 11. There was a total of 8 girls and 7 boys and I thought that was the grandest thing to have so many playmates and not leave home.
I loved their parents very much and considered them my 2nd parents. Their mom was a wonderful cook who could make beans and corn bread taste good.
I'm not sure how they managed but they always had food on their table. The dad had built a long bench that was the length of their big table and the smaller children all sat at it as it was built high so they could reach the table and it left the other side and ends free for bigger people. Yes, the bigger girls helped some with the meals and did dishes afterwards. It made them hope for a dishwasher when they grew up. One even told me years later that she had two and neither one wanted to do dishes.
 This family has had lots of heartbreak in past few years when two of the boys committed suicide and  one of the girls is in the nursing home and this is the second one to die.
  In our young years we knew everything about each other. We took many walks to Jackson Falls with our can of pork and beans,potatoes and a skillet to fry them in and spent several hours there. The food tasted so much better cooked outside.
  When we moved to Metropolis the girls would take turns coming and spending a week with us. In fact one was there when I met my husband and double dated with us.
  After we all grew up we went all different directions and hardly see each other except at funerals and such.
My prayers are with this family as they travel back home and  grieve over the lost of another sibling.