Cousins.....

This is one of my favorite pictures, not only because of who is in it but also because of where it was taken. It might also have something to do with the fact that at that point I was the youngest of the whole clan. And still cute then. We are seated in order of age:

Left to right, bottom row: Me, Leigh, Katy, Carol (now Keni), Lynn
Middle row: Jack (my brother), Carl (used to be Kenny, brother of Keni who used to be Carol), Jody, Johnny, Katydid (my sister), Jimmy, Bobby (my other brother)
Top row: Nurse Jane (my other sister), Sharon

I would like to think it's a coincidence that it appears Jack is shooting a bird. Not that he wouldn't do such a thing, even today, but he couldn't have been more than 6 or 7 in this picture. It is NO coincidence that Jody has that goofy look on his face; everyone in his family does that for pictures.

There was another cousin, Chris, who drowned in Germany before this picture was taken. There were also 5 additional cousins born after it: Eric, Victor, Dana, Danny, and Katie. Then the great-grandchildren started, and I'm not EVEN going to try naming all of those.

It was rare that all of the cousins would be together (at least I remember it being rare), because my Aunt Patti's husband was in the Army and they moved a lot. Most of the time that I remember they lived in Connecticut, but I know when I was about 8 years old they lived in the Panama Canal Zone, because I still have a Panamanian doll they sent me for Christmas.

This was on the front porch of my grandparents' house. We used to have family gatherings there frequently. I'm sure the house was not as huge as my memory of it. I remember sliding down the banister, and I remember a tire swing in the back yard that would not go high enough for me. Right above the porch in this picture was a window, from which I once threw my favorite baby doll. My cousin Leigh SAID she would catch her. The dancing ballerina doll danced no more after that.

Aunt Myrtle lived with my grandparents. She was a nurse and a spinster (don't you love THAT word?) and I was terrified of her. We were not allowed to go into Aunt Myrtle's bedroom E-V-E-R, so I came to think that there was something sinister and spooky about the room. She was somewhat sinister and spooky herself.

The house had a living room, not the kind we have today with recliners and televisions, but a sort of formal living room where not many people went. But there was an upright piano in that living room, and I treasured it. I would sneak in there and plink away on the keys every chance I got. My Aunt Rosie painted the living room once, a sort of mint green as I remember it, and when she got to the piano, she just painted it the same color. When I was a teenager, my mother paid to have the piano refurbished and repainted, and it came to live at our house. It was my most prized possession until my 17th birthday, when Mama used her income tax refund to buy a new piano, the one that still stands in my living room today.

Katydid and I rode by the house on our bicycles several years ago, and we both cried because it had fallen into disrepair. It has since had SOME work done to it, but it will probably never be restored to the glory that it once had, at least in my mind. I convinced Hubby to ride out there on our motorcycles one day, and it's a good 50 minute ride from our house. I stop and take pictures every now and then, but for the life of me I can't find one to include in this post. Perhaps pre-digital age? The last time I was there, through one of the downstairs windows I could see a computer sitting on a desk. That's just wrong. Computers do not belong in Grandmother's house. One of these days I'm going to get shot for being a stalker or something, skulking about outside people's houses and taking pictures.

Oh, and by the way, if you think when your first cousin has a baby, that baby is your second cousin, you would be wrong. That baby would be your first cousin once removed. Said baby would be SECOND cousins to YOUR baby. I'll draw you a diagram if you want me to. No really, I don't mind.

If you don't believe me, visit here.

Goodnight, and you're welcome.