About this time, Mary gave me a Lucite photo cube with six snapshots. I don't remember whether it was a bon voyage gift when I left home, or whether I received it in a "care package" once I was aboard ship. In any case, I somehow managed to keep the present intact for close to 36 years. Scratched and somewhat yellowed, I discarded the cube last fall in my preparations to leave Fort Worth for Austin. I scanned the six snaps and stored them properly with others in one of several shoe boxes.
The first shot shows Mary and El Gato on the couch in the den in Tyler. Sometimes referred to as Fat Cat, or simply Kitty, El Gato should have been La Gata all along. (Michael led me down the primrose path on that one. . .) She'll show up later and in other posts. But Mary on the couch reminds me of the many nights we sat up together watching "Movies Till Dawn" while she recuperated from back surgery.
The second picture shows a very svelte Ellen, standing in her bedroom with a glass of iced tea. I didn't see a lot of Ellen during this period. She was already dating Stan and they didn't spend much time at home.
This one shows Mary and Ellen and it's how I often think of them even now. I spent so much time away from my family, having gone away to school when I was 12, that when I think about the family at a given time, I tend to remember snapshots and written descriptions as often as "live" memories. After school it was the Navy, then Lockheed. Maybe that's why I take so many pictures now - they've always been so important to me.
And, since I didn't take these, I don't know all the subjects. Mary left today for Hawaii so I can't ask her who her friend is on the left who can't keep a straight face. (Dee Dee, perhaps?) But Mary in the middle and everyone's friend, Marie, on the right are very adept at feigning sleep.
Marie again and Mary, possibly in the backyard in Tyler, though I'm not at all sure. This picture reminds me that Mary spent a lot of time making her own clothes. Talented, and very industrious, she'd work at her sewing machine while Stephen entertained her.
I guess this one is my favorite of the lot. Mary, with her little brother Stephen on her lap, and El Gato in all her glory on Stephen's lap. El Gato was one of those cats who lulled birds in the neighborhood into a false sense of security. No stalking for her. She'd lie on her back in the tall grass waiting for a bird to fly in low on reconnaissance and knock it out of the sky with one swipe of her paw.
Hard to believe how much time has passed, huh? We're so lucky you took so many pictures when you came home. They're priceless.
ReplyDeleteUhhhh, I obviously wasn't paying very close attention. In my reference above to your many, highly-valued pictures, I failed to absorb the fact that these were taken by the girls and sent to you. But you did take a ton of great pictures, in any case.
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