I'm the Baby, Gotta Love Me!

On May 1, 1963, the last of the 6 Butler siblings was born. After our brother Jeff was born, the doctor told Mom it was dangerous for her to have more children. She'd been through 8 pregnancies in 8 years and her body was worn out.

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But Mom was stubborn, and she knew there was one more child meant to join our family. Exactly 18 months to the day after Jeff's birth, Darryl William was born.

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Today he is 46.

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Here he is at about 6 weeks old, June 1963, with his older brothers and sisters.

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Left to right: Karla (age 3), LeRoy (4), Mary (8), and Jeff (19 months).
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Half of us were born on the first of the month: I was born on Sept. 1st, Jeff was born on Nov. 1st, and Darryl was born on May 1st. This is back when births were not done by induced labor or planned c-sections. What are the odds?
Darryl always jokes that as the last of five living children there are hardly any baby pictures of him, but I didn't have trouble finding plenty.

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However, it is true that there isn't much in the way of professional photos. With money in short supply, Mom got creative and took a series of close-ups herself, like this one that I thought turned out very well.

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Darryl was about 2 months old here, July 1963.

Darryl is a family legend for being quite the bruiser. When he was 6 months old he weighed 30 lbs!

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This picture was taken in Nov 1963, when he was 6 months old, so you can see he was a chubby-cheeked chunk.

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According to my baby book, I was 29 lbs at 7 months, so I wasn't far behind him.

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Mom said she was too nervous to breast-feed, so we were given a homemade formula of evaporated milk and Caro syrup. Mmmm, nutritious!

My parents have home movies of Darryl pushing a red wagon around the front yard with LeRoy, Karla, and Jeff inside--when Darryl was barely one year old!

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This was in Grandpa and Grandma Haley's yard when Darryl was 13 months old, June 1964.

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How many of us are old enough to remember cloth diapers, diaper pins, and plastic pants? Grandpa called Darryl "Droopy Drawers."

And when we'd come to visit, Grandpa would yell to Grandma, "Here comes the wrecking crew!"

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In this picture, Darryl and Karla are checking out Mom's freshly baked banana nut bread in November 1964, when Darryl was 18 months old. Karla was 4.
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I suspect the nut bread was for Thanksgiving, which we usually enjoyed with relatives.

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Did you know that Darryl means "little darling"? I haven't always thought that name fit well!
Oops! Well, I had to throw in at least one embarrassing picture!

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It's April 1965, just before Darryl turned 2, and he's had a little accident in his training pants. 3-year-old Jeff seems to be thinking, "Geez, I'm glad that's not me!"

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Speaking of accidents, it's amazing Darryl survived childhood. When he was barely old enough to walk, he disappeared one day. Mom was frantic until the police found him on the center divider of Cedar Ave, a very busy street in Fresno. Our springer spaniel, Freckles, was at his side.

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Here he is at age 3 with our pooch, Belle.

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Another time Darryl was riding his tricycle down the middle of our road and was hit by a car. The woman driving the car screeched to a halt barely in time. Her bumper just grazed his knuckles on the handlebars. I remember her carrying Darryl to our house (he was an armful!), crying and shaking. She was more upset than Darryl was!

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I could go on and on: bike crashes, car chases, narrow escapes. He could curl your hair with his tales. He is a walking miracle.
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Again, I have to include a shot of "The Boys." They were always together.

Darryl, age 5, is lying on the floor. Sitting at left is Jeff, age 7, and in the center is LeRoy, age 9. Though he's the youngest, Darryl turned out to be the tallest of the guys.

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Darryl is the most affectionate of my brothers, and he has a wild sense of humor. No one laughs louder at his jokes than he does! You can't help but crack up. I tell him he should do stand-up comedy.
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This is Darryl on his 7th birthday in 1970. Don't let that angelic smile fool you. He was the baby and he knew how to use it to his advantage! He admits openly to how spoiled he was.

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Darryl actually had a stroke 2 years ago when he was only 43, but he has made major changes to his lifestyle since then. He eats better, works out, and has lost 57 lbs. Our whole family is so proud! Somehow Darryl is just larger than life, and I can't imagine the world without him.

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Happy birthday, baby bro! I'll be thinking of you and looking forward to seeing you in July when we come to Missouri. Yep, we gotta love you, and we do!