Isn't it funny....

Isn't it funny that the older we get, the more we realize we are just like our parents and grandparents?

I first physically saw myself in my grandma Joan a week before she died. Most of my life I had known I shared many of her mannerisms (one of the many reasons we got along so well), but that week, I noticed we had the same hands. 

Like so many things that week, that realization changed me.

Now I look down at my hands all the time, and I see her hands. Sometimes I see her in my eyes and smile as well.

Our niece Eliza spent the weekend with us a few weeks ago. While she was here, she stopped in our hallway and stared at a picture of Joan that was taken when she was around 12 years old. 

She wanted to know if the photograph was of me. I told that it was my grandma. She said, "She looks like you."

Yes, I suppose she does.

Rounded shoulders and short shorts. Yep, I'm her granddaughter.

This is how I remember her in her kitchen. 

Trimming the roses just like I do today. 

We don't own a camper yet, but one day we will.

There are those rounded shoulders again. 

Denise's family photos

My mother-in-law Denise is a very busy lady who spends most of her time taking care of her family and friends. Most women have a strained relationship with their mother-in-laws, but she is one of most selfless people I know. She spends most of her time taking care of her family, friends and neighborhood kids.

When she does have a free moment, she delights in the simple things -- a Sunday afternoon in her garden, a Saturday morning drive to the flea market to look for vintage treasures and a holiday spent with her children, granddaughters and soon-to-arrive grandson (!). She is an old soul, and many of her lifelong interests were formed during days and weekends spent with her beloved grandparents. Many of her family photos burned in a house fire years ago, so the photos she still has are very precious to her. Lately I have been working to digitize and create a photo book of her family photos. 

Here are a few of my favorites: 

Clovis and Arletta Geno, Denise's parents. 

Her adorable grandparents, James and Pearl Barnes. 

Denise (bottom right) and most of her siblings. 

Denise's grandmother, Mommie Barnes (third for left), and her sisters (Sarah Gann, Myrtle Thorton, Pearl Barnes and Mary Gann).

Denise's sweet sister Glenda who was killed in a car accident a few weeks before Jonathan was born. 

Baby Jonathan.

Jonathan again. 

Denise (top right) and her sisters. 

Denise (right) with her cousin Susan and sister Sandi. 

Stylish Linda Yates in the '50s and '60s

The scanning and editing of the family photos continues!

This week we're sharing photos from the 1950s and 1960s of Jonathan's Aunt Linda Yates. A former beauty pageant queen, Linda was quite good at striking a pose.As you'll notice, she was also very fashionable regardless of whether she was standing beside the car in the hot sun or kneeling beside her nephew Greg. 

Enjoy!

denise and clovis

My mother-in-law Denise lost her father, Clovis Geno, to a massive heart attack on September 11, 1977 when he was only 62 years old. She loved her daddy very much and still talks about him all the time, but sadly, she doesn't have many photos of the two of them together. I'm in the process of scanning and editing the few she does have, so she can enjoy them for years to come. 

Denise and Clovis Geno.

Little Denise with her father Clovis.

Denise and her parents, Clovis and Arletta Geno.

Denise with  a Christmas bow in her hair.