THE BRADY BUNCH
THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY OF A LOVELY LADY
AND THE FELLOW WITH THREE BOYS OF HIS OWN
1964 The Martin household
Carol Ann Martin was feeding her youngest daughter Cindy, age one, her other daughters Jan, age three was sitting in her chair and her oldest daughter Marcia, age five, was also sitting in her chair. They were having spaghetti, this was Jan's favorite food. Carol was eating and trying to feed Cindy, who was trying to feed herself, but was only managing to get spaghetti all over her dress and legs. The girl's father, and Carols husband of seven years was late. The girls were hungry and Carol was too so she set his plate in the oven on the warm setting.
Bill Martin was a handsome man, he had light brown hair and blue eyes. He was an attorney for Harris, Graham and Brady. He was thirty-years old and had a beautiful wife and three beautiful daughters. He met Carol at a company meeting for his father's place. The two dated then married at ages twenty and twenty-three. They had arguments as any couple had, after the girls were born, they were at the happiest point in their lives. As Carol was finishing up and about to bathe Cindy, because she had massaged spaghetti sauce onto her hands and arms, the telephone rang.
"Hello, yes this is Carol Martin. What! OH NO! I'll get there as fast as I can get my Mom to watch my daughters!"
On the way home from work, Bill was involved in a car accident, he was traveling on the freeway and a woman went on the wrong way and they hit head on. The woman was severely injured and Bill was in very critical condition. After Carols mother Frances Tyler got there, Carol asked her to please give Cindy a bath and make sure the girls were bathed before they went to bed, she had told them that Daddy was hurt and she had to go to him. Only Marcia could comprehend it, but really not much. She just knew Mommy was crying and praying. Mommy never cried much and she knew grownups cried when something really bad happened.
Carol paced nervously in the hallway. After three hours of just a nurse coming out to say that they were operating on Bill, she was getting sick. Then a doctor walked toward her, grim faced he revealed the sad news
"I am so very sorry Mrs. Martin, I tried to save him, but he just passed away, you can go and see him, they say when someone passes away. They last thing to go is the hearing."
Carol, in tears went to Bill and talked to him and held hid hands, he was still warm.
"Bill? Can you hear me darling? Oh Bill! I love you, and so do Marcia, Jan and Cindy, Oh God! You're still warm! Oh Bill I'll miss you!" I know you're up in heaven with your Dad.
After an hour, they took Bill to the morgue and Carol drove home. Frances was sitting in the living room watching a late movie on TV. Carol came in and all Frances had to do is see the tears on her face and she knew. The sobbing woman embraced her mother. After crying for fifteen minutes, Carol fell into an exhausted sleep on the sofa. Frances called Ron, her husband to tell him that she was staying the night. After troubled dreams, Carol was woken my a little hand and a sweet voice
"Mommy? Mommy, time to wake up. Cindy wants waffles and so do me and Marcia."
Jan kissed Mommy on the cheek and she opened her eyes. Jan was in her Pooh Bear pajamas. They had feet on them and it was cold in California in January. Carol smiled and kissed her daughter on the cheek, she went into Cindy's room and got her out of her crib, changed her diaper and went into the kitchen where Jan and Marcia, in her Cinderella pajamas were both sitting in their chairs. Cindy was wearing Eeyore pajamas.
"Good morning Mommy! Why is grandma still here?"
Marcia questioned Carol as she was sitting Cindy into her high chair after fixing her a sippy cup full of milk.
"The reason grandma is still here darling is because Mommy didn't get home until very late, so she just stayed because she was sleepy. After we eat breakfast, I'm going to tell you what happened last night, let me see if she's awake yet, then I'm going to fix waffles and bacon for us, won't that be good?"
The girls all said yes and Cindy could only grin and nod. After Frances woke up, and went to the bathroom, she joined Carol and the girls in the kitchen, Frances fried the bacon and Carol made the waffles. The girls ate two waffles a piece but Cindy only managed one, plus a piece of bacon, Jan, Marcia and Carol and Frances ate two pieces and a waffle a piece for the women. Plus a glass of cold milk. After clearing the table and washing dishes, Carol dressed Cindy and Jan and Marcia dressed themselves.
"Mommy! Buckle my Mary Jane's!"
Jan asked Mommy. After the girls brushed their teeth, Carol sat then in a row on the sofa, Grandma holding Cindy beside Jan. Carol told the girls.
"Girls, last night, Daddy got into an accident, they took him to the hospital and operated on him, but it was too late and Daddy died girls." If you don't understand what die means, It means that you don't breathe anymore, your heart stops beating and your brain stops working, your blood stops flowing and you go to heaven to be with God."
The girls, who had inherited Carols blond hair and blue eyes all sat there with questions, After Carol answered them, only Marcia burst into tears,
"Daddy! I want my Daddy!"
After Frances went home, the girls and Carol were totally alone, As the days followed, their church provided food and all the things. As the days turned into weeks, Carol and the girls moved into Ron and Frances home, The girls got their Uncle George's old room, and Carol got her old room, at first, since the girl had their individual rooms weren't used to one another's sleeping habits. Jan mumbled in her sleep. Cindy noisily sucked her thumb and Marcia had sinus problems and had to blow her nose all night.
Then the weeks turned to months and each of the girls celebrated her birthday, Marcia began school and Cindy was finally in big girl underpants. She had also graduated to a big girl bed. Marcia had her tonsils and adenoids removed and this seemed to help her breathing problems, Jan stopped talking in her sleep and out of the blue, at the age of four, Cindy stopped sucking her thumb. Carol dated a man a few times, but he was nothing like her Bill was.
1965
Michael Paul Brady was married to Susan Louise Johnson Brady, They had three sons. Greg was the oldest, he was six, then there was Peter, a handsome little fellow, he was four, he was the only one of the boys that inherited his mothers dark brown eyes, then there was little Bobby, he was two. They had a house keeper named Alice Nelson, she was there even before Bobby was born. Mike went to a hiring agency and asked for a housekeeper that could look after a home, and help a mother-to-be care for two small boys. Alice joined the family three months before the third baby boy came into the world.
The Brady's got a dog, he was a sheepdog they named Tiger, they had gotten Tiger a month before Bobby was born. The Brady's were a very happy family. Mike was an architect for a firm in Los Angeles and Susan was a housewife. One day, Susan, who had had numerous headaches fell down and Alice called Mike at work, he rushed home and took Susan to the doctor. After an X ray. They took Susan to the hospital, but it was too late. Susan died from an aneurism. Stunned and almost having a nervous breakdown, Mike tried explaining to his little boys who were three, five and seven at the time what had happened to Mommy.
"Boys, Mommy died, this means that she quit breathing, her heart stopped beating and her brain stopped functioning."
Greg knew what die meant, and Peter understood a little bit, but little Bobby just cried and walked around looking for Mommy for almost six months. One day. Greg came home from school crying. There was supposed to be a Mother and Son dinner at school.
"Would you like me to take you sweetie?"
Alice asked the little boy, his face red and hot from crying, hugged Alice and said yes he would. The teacher knew that Alice wasn't Greg's mother but she still accepted it. Greg bragged to everyone there about how Alice was the best cook in the world, she had brought an apple pie for a dessert.
The following year, Peter started school and Alice took him to his first day of school. Luckily, Peter had gotten Greg's first-grade teacher and she knew Susan from high school and was at her funeral, she treated Peter with kindness all year. Some of the children were jealous but one afternoon, she sent Peter to the principals office with some paper work and told the children why she treated Peter different.
"Boys and girls, the reason I'm different with Peter Brady is because his Mommy died last year, He needs a mothers love and I can only give him kindness at school. So please be nice to him, he misses his Mommy and I know you all have one at home for you."
After the talk, not one child said bad things to Peter, he became the class friend to everyone. When Bobby was four, he asked Alice quite innocently one afternoon
"Alice do you like my Daddy?"
"Why yes I do sweetie, why do you ask?"
"Because I sometimes hear him cry at night, he says "Why did you have to go Susan? " Hey Alice, ask my Daddy if you can be my Mommy?"
Alice was overwhelmed by the question but told Bobby.
"I love you and Peter and Greg, and I also love your father, but not the way he loved your Mommy, I don't think he would want me to be your Mommy, so lets just be good friends okay?"
"Okay Alice!"
Bobby replied with a smile on his face. Bobby and Greg were both in hair color and eye color as Mike, who was blue eyed and had brown hair that tended to curl when humid weather occurred. A year later, when Bobby was five, Peter seven and Greg nine, Mike and the boys were celebrating his birthday in a restaurant, Alice was there too of course. When they were in the middle of their meal, a woman and three little girls walked in the restaurant.
They sat at the table opposite them. They heard the woman tell them
"Today is my daughter Jan's sixth birthday."
Everyone near them began clapping and Mike stood up and started.
"Happy Birthday to you,"
Then everyone near started in.
"Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday dear Jan, happy birthday to you!"
Everyone clapped and little Jan smiled. Minus her two bottom teeth. Mike went to the table and shook the little girls hand and introduced himself to the girls mother. After Carol introduced herself, she told them Marcia and Cindy's names and their ages which were now eight and four. After the Martin girls ate their meal the staff brought Jan a cake from the kitchen, Carol invited Mike, Alice and the boys to their table to have a piece of birthday cake. After they ate their cake, Mike invited the Martins to his home for some coffee and milk for the children.
As they sat and talked, Mike told Carol about Susan, then Carol told Mike about Bill. Then they just talked, Alice was invited into the family room to watch television with the children, little Cindy fell in love with Alice. Bobby was a little jealous, but calmed down after Alice whispered to him that he was still her favorite boy. Later on Mike popped corn and they had popcorn and sodas and watched the weekend movie of the week.
"Can I have thum more popcorn Mithter Brady?"
Little Cindy lisped to Mike. He gave her a bowlful and she ate it all. The she fell asleep in his lap. Carol smiled and told him
"Except for my father, you're the first man Cindy has even talked to since her Daddy died, she doesn't even remember him, she was just a baby when he died and Jan was just three, so neither one of them remember Bill."
Carol gave Mike her phone number and Mike gave Carol his. That evening, after they left, Mike called Carol and the couple talked until 1AM. Mike, Alice and the boys were invited to Sunday dinner with the Tyler's and Carol and the girls. They all took an instant liking to each others families. As the months went by, Mike and Carol started dating twice a week. They argued but quickly made up, and the children all got along great together.
Then a year later, Mike proposed to Carol, but before he did. He got together with the boys and had a long talk to them about Marcia, Jan and Cindy.
I'm planning on marrying Carol, and I'm also planning on adopting her girls, so they'll be your sisters, your really and truly sisters, I want you to be nice to them and love them too."
The boys all agreed they wanted Mike to marry Carol, and they asked him what should they call Carol after he married her.
"Why Mom of course."
The day of the wedding was beautiful, the minister married Mike and Carol for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, until death they depart. After the I do's Mike and Carol honeymooned in Aspen Colorado and came home to their new home. Where they all lived just like any other normal family. Mike adopted Marcia, Jan and Cindy and they all became The Brady's