Never Had to Have a Chaperon, No Sir....

I don't remember seeing this picture before. I found it in one of the albums, back around the time Mom and Dad got married. No... wait... this was taken at my grandparents home in Oakland, CA, so that would put it... (runs in and thumbs through the letters)... hmm... 1940. My mother and her sister were edging the grass with 'scissors'... and evidently tussling around on the walkway, as sisters will.

My mother was her sister's mother for a while. She and my father kept an eye on Sheila (her sister's name, and MY sister's name). This family had no originality when it came to names. There is a Mary Lynne for whom I am named, apparently. My grandfather, father, brother and nephew all have the same name. My sister and Mom's sister. My sister's middle name is my other grandmother's first name. and on it goes...

Back to the original Sheila. She was 11 months younger than my mother, so they were close in age along with being stuck together in boarding schools. My mother wrote about Sheila's boyfriends while she was still in school (after Mom got married). She used to come and stay with them in their little apartment, which finally drove my mother nuts... so much for sisters!! All it takes is one cute husband and Mom would rather her sister stayed at school!..

Mom, in her apartment patio...



Sheila married a Coast Guard man, which must have made my grandfathers happy (grandfather and step grandfather). There are a bunch of Coast Guard people in this family, even now.

In 1940 my father traded something for a movie camera. He later decided it was too expensive, but there are two separate movies; one before my brother was born (with my very pregnant mother looking just adorable). The second snippet of film was taken about 6 months after my brother was born, and includes my Aunt and her new husband. In fact, almost all of the family at that time was on one clip or another, which I just treasure. My mother said her sister was "100 percent better" and I guess once they were both married they got along better (grin).