Friday, April 20, 2007

Fun and Photos with Cousin Carol, Part II

Yesterday was another great day with mine and my dad's favorite cousin, Carol (nee Lott). If you read the previous post regarding the old family photos you know that Carol is the one who ended up with a lot of the family photos and memorabilia. She had many pictures of my dad and his sister that I had never seen before. These are a few that she shared with me yesterday and I took advantage by scanning as many as I could. I'm sure if you're not related this will not interest you unless you just like looking at old photos in general as I do. These two pictures above are of my dad, Carl and Carol. I love the look Carol has in the one on the left-priceless.
Below is my dad's second birthday party. He was obviously having the time of his life with all the girls!
I told my husband today that I should have gotten stuck in the 30-50'S. And would have wanted the world to be in black and white. It all seems so sweet and simple and innocent. Above is a photo of my dad as a teen on a funny motorcycle with his little sis, Marydith.
This one is of my great-grandfather. The man on the left was my dad's mother's father. He was a Methodist minister named Zorabable B. Pirtle. He was called Brother Zora B., his grandchildren called him Foddy (Carol's doing through baby-talk). I queried my dad as to why I hadn't know of these family names before I named my sons. I think he might have kept it from me on purpose to protect the boys knowing I'd run with them! This is the only picture I've ever seen of Foddy. My dad's family pictures kind of got out of our hands but thank goodness Carol has the ones from her side which include many of my dad's family as well.
This is of my grandmother's sisters and brothers and their spouses plus my dad and his sister along with my grandmother and grandfather.
This is Carol's family with my dad's, Carl, family(the Georges). Carol is the center girl behind my little aunt next to her brother, Gene. My dad is between his mom and Carol's mom to the right. Carol's mom and dad, Aunt Bill and Uncle Vestal were my dad's favorite relatives along with Carol and her brother, Gene. They spent summer vacations and traveled often to see each other. When Carol and her family moved to from Pecos, Texas to New York City my dad went to visit as a young man and they showed him around the city including Uncle Vestal taking him to see the Rockettes. Then when they moved to D.C. my dad again went for a full-tour visit. Those trips plus the ones they took to their grandfather's farm were some of the best childhood memories he had.
Here's one from a road trip with the Georges and the Lotts. I want to go!
My grandmother is the one holding my aunt and she's flanked by her sisters and sisters-in-law.
This was my dad's sister, my Aunt Marydith, where she crammed herself into her doll's buggy. Look at that sweet face!
I know it's not PC to have a photo with a big gun and ammo but my dad was always so good-looking. He was a beautiful baby and child, hunky teen and Texas A&M ROTC, record-breaking boxer at A&M, and Air Force officer. And even in his 30's and 40's my sister's friends would oooooh and aaaaah over him and hang around the school parking lot to get a peek at him when he dropped her off in the mornings. I just thought my dad looked so pretty (kinda Prince Williamish don't you think?) in this picture I had to include it. He was a marksman (well he WAS several-generation Texan) but he was never a hunter. Some day I'll do a post on the personal exotic animal preserve he created as a hobby when we were growing up.
I love you Daddy, and miss you dearly. I know you are so happy that Carol and I have a great relationship, it's my pleasure.