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| From the left: Moi, Dale's maternal Cousin Janet, ??, his maternal Aunt Frances, OUR Great-Grand Nonna, his maternal Grands, his Mom holding his Bro Dennis, GRAN holding Ronnie, his maternal Cousin Tommy |
Every picture tells a story, as does this relic. Actually, this one speaks in multiples, but I'll try to stay on track. It was not taken on Gran's birthday, but rather during a summer past. Hey, 'twas a party!
Y'all have met my first cousin, Dale, here on CMI (most recently as we vacationed together in Cape Cod). His family on both sides is greatly represented in this shot, 'ceptin' that he wasn't born yet. :-) We share Gran, his paternal and my maternal.
This gathering obviously took place at the summer home of his maternal Grands, "up the hill" from OUR Grand's cottage. I could make this very confusing, but I won't. Suffice it to say that Gran (holding my baby bro) loved a party... any party... but here I think she was eyeballing me for playing with the balloon. I don't see my parents, so she must have been in charge.
I can tell by the style of developing that Dale's Dad - Gran's son, Mom's bro and my Godfather - took this shot. He was good... would have loved my new Nikon and the fun one can have in PhotoShop. He once costumed and posed Brian and Christian, when they were young boys. The results were a barrel of fun; I'll dig them out for a scan, sometime. I digress.
Standing to the left is OUR great-grandmother, Nonna. She didn't speak a word of English, but smiled and hugged a lot. She had eight children, and Ronnie and I got to know all of them. Why? Well, Gran always lived with us, and she was a true nucleus. Both at the summer cottage and home, relatives flocked to see her. Strong woman. Mind of her own. Definitely a huge influence on whomever she came into contact with. My heroine.
Heaven's rockin', today. I love you, Gran, on your birthday and always.
♥
