Uncle Cecil's Family

In mid February Darrell and I flew back to Missouri to visit his Uncle Cecil and cousin Pat and family.  We had met up with Uncle Cecil and his wife Bunzie about 4 years ago when we were back there for a conference for Darrell's work.  At that time Pat was away on a cruise with her husband, John, so we did not meet them.  Uncle Cecil has lived with them for 7 years.  Darrell was just a wee lad when he last saw cousin Pat, so this may as well have been his first time to get to know her!  It was a wonderful time of getting acquainted with Darrell's extended family!  A real plus is that Pat has  family pictures of days long ago, so I was able to scan them in with my new portable scanner and dump on my computer for future usage!  Really exciting for me!

 This is Uncle Cecil (left) and Kenny (Darrell's father) as young boys.  Likely the only picture taken or at least that survived the family's roaming about the country!  I sure think that grandson Owen looks an awful lot like his great grandpa!

Uncle Cecil flew B24 bombers (part of the 449th BG), as well as the Scorpion Jet during WWII, 36 missions in all.  He was able to share a few stories with us, including the need to bail out of his plane over Southern Italy after bombing Regensburg, Germany.

 I thought that this was the original bomber for the crew that Uncle Cecil flew most of his missions with.  However, the original plane, The Wise Virgin, was the one that was crashed on Feb 22, 1944 near Bari, Italy on its return from the Regensburg bombing.  Engines #3 and #4 failed.  The Wise Virgin II was its replacement.  The entire crew survived the bail-out though the pilot, Cecil Kinerd, broke his left leg and was sent back to the States.  The replacement pilot, Richard Dacey (third from left, back row) is standing next to Uncle Cecil (middle back row).

 He married Helen directly before enlisting in the Army Air Corp.  They were very happy together, until her unfortunate passing in 1988.

 His two children Bruce and Patricia celebrating his 92nd birthday with him in 2011

This visit was to say good-bye to Uncle Cecil, as he was in his final days here on earth.  He passed into eternity 2 days after we left.  We had several days with him where he was lucid enough to relate more family stories and ask questions.

Darrell and I with John and Pat

 Darrell's cousin Bruce and his wife Becky.  We did not get to meet them, as they live in Florida, so this is a picture of a photo :-)  We did, however do some Face Time on iPads with Bruce!

Pat's oldest, Matthew, with his wife, Stephanie, and their two children Madeleine and Elijah.  We did spend some time with this entire family!  Darrell and Madeleine did some baking together, and Elijah seemed to take a real liking to Darrell, cozying right up to him! 

 Pat's youngest, Melissa, and her husband, Matthew Mustain, and their children Thomas and Amelia.  Though we did get to spend time with Melissa and the kids, Matthew was not around, so again, I took a picture of a photo.  Sweet Amelia was 4 months old when we were there, and 'jumping bean' Thomas, two.

The entire family was so hospitable, friendly, sweet and fun!  We totally enjoyed ourselves and wish we'd made the effort to get to know them way sooner than this!

We were wondering what John and Pat's children would be called in relation to us, and I came upon this chart, which answers all sorts of those type questions, on FaceBook last week.  For those of you who always wondered...........  here it is!!!!  Enjoy!

Birthday Clues, Part I

 Sixty years ago a rambunctious baby entered the world on August 27th.

The second son in a string of eight boys born in rapid succession, he managed to grow up into adulthood alive, though not without many a mishap along the journey.

Winter Flashback

Hopefully we had our last snow for the season this past Friday night.  Wishful thinking, I know.  Still.  I hope.   Meanwhile, I came upon this old photo of my mother and her brother ice skating some winter day long ago.  Perhaps the 1940's. Or maybe the '50's?  Who's to know.......      Wouldn't 'cha just love her sweater for a vintage sweater party?!?!

Christmas Memory: Remember Woolworth's?

A friend sent me this old menu from Woolworth's, and boy did it ever bring some memories flooding back!  Founded in 1879 by Frank W. Woolworth, it was one of the original and largest five-and-dime stores in America until the 1980's, when increased competition led to its decline.  Ever wonder what became of the chain?  In the late 1990's it became the Foot Locker, Inc! 

Growing up, there was a Woolworth's five-and-dime in a nearby town. I have wonderful memories of my mother taking the 3 of us children to the store the week before Christmas to hunt out those special gifts for each other.  We shopped little in our family, so it was something to get excited about.  Upstairs the shelves were lined with clothing, household items and other goods that might interest an adult.  However, it was the basement that beckoned to us kids, for it was filled with toys, games, recreational equipment, bicycles and anything else that might capture the attention and imagination of a child.  And it did!  At least mine.  I can still see in my mind's eye one year when I spied a miniature play set of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, complete with a tiny table to set in the kitchen that was drawn on the box's background.  The bottom of the box had a wooden floor painted on it.  I loved this set!  No, more than that. I coveted it!  I so hoped that it would be under the Christmas tree for me the following week.  I continued on up and down the isles until I had selected the perfect gifts for my sister and brother, though I have no memory of what they were.  My mind was too filled with visions of the treasure I'd found and longed for.  After we had chosen and purchased our gifts, my mother took us back upstairs and treated us to a rare occurrence........  a meal out at Woolworth's fountain and lunch counter!  It was here that I was introduced to the Bacon and Tomato Sandwich, something that would become a life-long favorite of mine.    Mom also splurged and allowed us to order milkshakes.  What a treat!   Ah, but those were the days...........

Yes, I did receive my beloved Snow White and her Dwarfs, a gift from my brother, I believe.  And though I have long since lost the pretty box they came in, as well as the tiny table, I hung onto that set for years. I  still have the Seven Dwarfs to this day!  I remember agonizing over getting rid of Snow White as an adult (a silly notion of 'cleaning out' hit me), and decided in favor of her disposal.  Crazy! Don't ask me to understand my thought process at the time. I could still have the original complete set! 

Anyone else remember Woolworth's?

A Life Cut Short

Yesterday Darrell and I flew down to San Jose for the funeral of my cousin, who died suddenly and unexpectedly last week while camping and water skiing with his wife's extended family.  Richard was only 57 years old.  Way too young for death to claim him.  He was known as the family comedian, wearing a big smile no matter what his circumstances.  He was well-loved by his family and friends, and had a strong faith in Christ :o}

Richard Andrew Vaughan

April 1953 - July 2010

'Til we meet again..........

A Tribute to my Father

Lazy Sunday Daze of Long Ago

A snapshot of my siblings and me in our Sunday-going-to-meetin' clothes, taken 56 years ago! Those were the days! As we grew up, we almost always arrived home from church to the aroma of a roast baking in the oven. My mother had a top of the line, double oven range that had the then new technology of programing it to come on while we were yet at church! Once home, we kids would go play while she peeled and boiled potatoes for mashing, and she would make perfect gravy from the roast juices to serve with them...... no one can top her gravy! NO ONE!!! She would also make a jello, usually strawberry-banana, and when it was half set, add sliced bananas. That, believe it or not, served not as a dessert, but as our salad! To this day, I still refuse to call jello a dessert! Of course, she always added a vegetable to the meal, much to our chagrin as children. It was usually corn, green beans (french-sliced), mixed medley, or peas. If it was peas, I found I could mix them into the potatoes for easier downing :-)

What are some of your favorite childhood memories? Post them in the comment section, and I will draw a name from all who posted, for a prize.......

Ghosts of Halloween

I know. I am a bit late with this. Five days late, to be exact. Ah well, hope you had a Happy Halloween, even if some of you do think it quite pagan to celebrate. This picture was snapped in 1956 of myself and my siblings all dressed up and ready to head out for some trick-or-treating! That pirate costume my brother is sporting is pretty dang neat-o! I am Little Red Riding Hood, and my sister appears to be some kind of princess. We used to head down Linda Avenue to knock on doors. There wasn't many houses, maybe 10 or so, but we almost always came away with a full-size candy bar! A couple of the houses actually invited us in for a Carmel apple, or some hot chocolate or some other home-baked goody. Then there was a delapitated house or two whose yards were always unkempt and who never had their porch lights on to welcome the treasure seekers. They were spooky. I have good memories of those early years of trick-or-treating. As we grew older, we dressed up mainly as hobos, with wigs my mother made out of yarn, old flannel shirts, jeans with patches on the knees, plastic black hats, corn cob pipes, black soot smeared on our faces and of course, the proverbial stick with a bandana tied on the end.

What is your favorite costume memory?

Birthday of Years Past

This is snapshot of my brother Ken's birthday, guessing somewhere around 1958. His birthday falls in mid November, on the 13th. It obviously was just a family party. I remember very well many cakes like this one on our birthdays! My mom made them from scratch, frosted them and placed a few mini marshmallows on them. Usually chocolate. Can you believe what is in the box on the table? A white dress shirt complete with a bow tie! Now a days you will rarely see something so practical as Sunday clothes for gifts. What kid would want that?!?! But back then, it was the norm, and what we kids often expected. However, look at that chemistry set he is opening! My sister and I look a bit leery about it. Would he burn the house down with an explosion? Yikes! I remember that set over the years, and the little bottles of chemical solutions it contained. I don't believe the unthinkable ever happened, but I sure envied him that set! Instead of chemical solutions, Ginny and I would take to the bathroom drawers and cupboards to make our magical potions, using anything from perfume to hair products we could find. They didn't create quite the bang that Ken's chemistry set did, but it served our purpose for a bit of fun! Afterwards, we always went to the kitchen for a snack of graham crackers dipped in koolaid! Oh, and BTW, my mother was never home when we indulged in this kind of play ;-) Must have been forbidden! Happy forthcoming birthday, Bro. Not that he reads my blog.

Rose Garden of Days Gone-By

My mother had a rose garden. By all accounts, it was lovely in its hey-day. By time I grew old enough to remember it, a tree my parents had planted close-by had grown so tall so as to totally block any sun from reaching the little patch of roses. The once-beautiful bushes had by then been reduced to a few straggly sticks sporting but few leaves. Actually, one could hardly tell from the remains that such life and beauty had ever existed there. The Secret Garden. It is helpful to have the good fortune of possessing some pictures from days long ago that I don't even remember. I can see in my mother someone who loved the outdoors and gardening. She passed that love on to her daughters, though she didn't live long enough to see the realization of it. I also see a charming, petite woman who took care to dress herself well, in addition to dolling up her little girls. Later on, my sister and I became such avid tomboys that my mother surely must have wondered if she had given birth to any daughters at all! Hopefully she had her fill of girliness in our younger days! I think my mother loved her rose garden while it lasted.

Like the rose that emanates a lingering fragrance, so a photo issues a lasting memory. ~Beanball

Desert Hot Springs

Desert Hot Springs is a ritzy, over-populated tourist area today, but in the 1950's it was quite out of the way to get to my grandparent's little resort for a visit with them. It seemed like we drove forever on an unpaved, twisting, winding road, and before we arrived at G'pa and G'ma Gardner's resort I had vomited several times from carsickness. I was very young when they owned this resort, but two things I remember clearly: being carsick and having chicken pox while there. And the swimming pool! Okay, three things! Here is a photo of our little family enjoying the hot sun and cool water. My Grandpa Gardner must have been sort of a vagabond. Seems like he had lodges and resorts sprinkled throughout California, though only one at a time. In his older years he and his wife finally settled down in Lakeport, CA. I suspect his wife, Margaret (the one I knew as Grandma), put her foot down, as they had adopted a little girl to raise. She was my Aunt Cindy, but being just a wee older than my brother Kenny, was more like a cousin to us. Actually, this may be Cindy in the photo, with my parents and Kenny and Ginny in floaty tubes. Hard to tell with those dreadful bathing caps all females were forced to wear in swimming pools back then! Where was the women's liberation movement when you needed it?!?! I heard that this resort existed until the 1990's sometime. I cannot recall the name of it, but perhaps someone reading this can? Imagine how much it would be worth today!

Down at the Boardwalk

Growing up in Los Gatos, CA, we kids spent many lazy, summer days at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz Boardwalk was a real boardwalk, complete with old concrete walkways and carnival rides! Okay, not so very many rides, but all the important ones for that day..... a genuine carousel with rings to pull and toss into the clowns mouth as as the carousel turned, for a 'free ride' ticket win! It was cool! Really cool. It also sported a small wooden roller coaster, and some carnival game tosses. Then there were the hours spent lazing in the sun, building sand castles and splashing in the ocean waves. Man, oh man. Those were the grand old days, alright. Awesome memories.My mom snapped this photograph of my brother Kenny, sister Ginny and myself with Mrs. Garland and her two daughters, Jeannie and Jan. They must have been our tag-a-longs for this special day. Mom always brought friends along. No matter where we went or what we did. I think she enjoyed people and gallivanting around, and we kids reaped the benefits of many fun summer days with a variety of friends. Oh for those problem-free days of ease.....


I love this boardwalk, even if it is one of the 'board-less' varieties. Actually, Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk refers to both the seaside amusement park and the concrete path that runs through it. Here, find everything from a classic wooden roller coaster, a 1911 carousel, arcade and video games and an extra-wide beach with volleyball nets to free concerts, great surfing and windsurfing and a half-mile-long pier lined with seafood restaurants. Coastal nirvana. ~Steve Millburg

Recycling!

Back in the day, before Cd's, before cassette tapes, before 8-track tapes, before stereo 331/3 RPM vinyl records, the new technology was 78 RPM gramophone records. My mother had a collection of these, some of which were quite humorous (Spike Jones, The Blue Danube, complete with farting noises, etc). Apparently she heard about a new craft one spring...... Easter bonnets from your old records! Here is my sister, Ginny, posing with her lovely headpiece on. I believe she remembers actually making these, so if you wish to construct your very own masterpiece, you might talk with her about the how-to's!

.....and here is yours truly, sporting one heavy new Easter Bonnet! I am going to take a guess that the year was 1956 or 1957. My! What good old days those were! Already we were concerned about recycling unwanted items!

A scary thought on being green:
One popular new plastic surgery technique is called lip grafting, or "fat recycling" wherein fat cells are removed from one part of your body that is too large, such as your buttocks, and injected into your lips; people will then be literally kissing ass.~ Dave Barry

Stroll Down Memory Lane Part I

Lloyd and Dale (Myrtle) Vaughan

This is my father and mother, I suspect while they were dating, guessing 1948. He was tall and thin; she short and petite. My father was last-born into a family of 5 boys. His brother Charles was hit on his bicycle and killed when he was 15 years old, riding back from a day in Watsonville, CA to his home in San Jose. It was a very tragic event for this family, and I often wonder if this was the reason for the stark somberness of Grandma. I have few memories of her, except that she always seemed so sad. My mother had a brother (Harmon) who was 8 years older. Her mother died from pneumonia when she was just 3 years old, leaving her to be raised by her father, her maiden Aunt Myrtle Harmon (we kids knew her as Aunt Mia) after whom she was named, a short stint with a step-mother, and who knows who else? Somewhere I have a photo of a 'pet' bear chained to a log out in front of a lodge that her father owned for awhile. I believe it was in Mariposa, CA

They met after Lloyd was released from the army at the end of WWII. He was ready to settle down and start a family and Dale was finishing her RN course. Her good friend and fellow-student, Georgia, introduced Dale to her brother-in-law, Lloyd. You see, Georgia was married to Lloyd's brother, Leland. Over the years, the cousins my family were most familiar with on the Vaughan side, were the children of Leland and Georgia.

Dad and Mom were married on September 4, 1948 in Santa Cruz, CA at Twin Lakes Baptist Church. Mom passed away from cancer in November of 1973, after 25 years of marriage. I have missed my mother over the years, especially when I got married, and when I had children. I know she would have enjoyed being a grandma. My kids are looking forward to meeting her in heaven some day, as am I. I never had the chance to know her as an adult, and have missed that friendship relationship that develops in those years, versus the parent-child relationship.

My father has been remarried twice since then, both of those wives having since passed also. Dad worked at Hewlett and Packard for many years, starting with the bosses when they were just beginning the small business venture in their garage, until his retirement from the huge conglomerate in Palo Alto, CA. He was responsible for doing all the environmental testing of computers and equipment built by HP. I remember visiting him in his lab my senior year in High School, and being very impressed with a wall-sized computer that he had programmed to say 'hello' to me (in written form). That sure ages me!

Here and there I think I will do a bit of family posting for the enjoyment of my children and my siblings' families. I have tried to put together family history over the last 5 years, but it is such a huge project. Too over-whelming. Maybe this will be easier, though not as complete.