For any who want more, complete list of all posts by month since 2011
  • happy days, grand so

    happy days, grand so


    In rural Grimes County, Texas, in the early 1950s following the end of WWII which began recovery from the Great Depression of the 1930s, a little girl lived with her parents and maternal grandmother in a small Sears Roebuck house in an even smaller town of Richards (pop. 440) at the edge of the East Texas Piney Woods. These pictures are the fourth of her stories that depict her early childhood in that faraway time and place, the place where the little girl started learning to laugh at life.

    why is my snowman so tiny, mama? and why is he wearing a bonnet?

    Scooter the puppy, is now Scooter, the big dog

    Uncle Neville made balloons for the little country girl on her visit

    to the bright lights and big city of Houston with her grandmother

    summer visit on Posey Street in Houston with Grandma Dude, Grandma’s sister Aunt Selma, and their mother we all called Grandma Schlinkeeveryone having fun? (except great- Grandma Schlinke who managed a rare smileI don’t think she liked fun)

    what’s so funny? this little boy thinks he can ride my tricycle

    Take your hands off my tricycle

    that’s the funniest thing I ever heard

    Thanks for hanging in with us – the school experience is next for the little girl. It’s the final segment of the saga ushering in a whole new world of possibilities on her horizon. She can’t wait!

  • mid century rural Texas not modern

    mid century rural Texas not modern


    guns part of culture in rural Grimes County, Texas in early 1950s

    in her little mind she was always the Good Guy

    cowboys needed just the right hat

    new baby cousin Gaylen lived in Houston – cowboy hats came later for him

    daddy bought the little girl a swing set for her yard

    cowboy hats later replaced by baseball caps

    shirts optional in the hot Texas summers

    meanwhile, mama insisted on teaching the little girl piano lessons

    the little girl hated the piano lessons

    The guns and cowboy hats are long gone, but mama’s music lingered from one century to the next.

  • and they called it puppy love

    and they called it puppy love


    rural Grimes County, Texas circa 1948

    first of a lifetime of puppies: Scooter

    sniff, sniff – do I belong with you?

    Scooter and the little girl grew up together as best friends, as family

    the little girl had other four-legged friends that came to visit

    she loved horses, too – but they were very big

    the little girl frequently walked the dirt road from her house

    to her grandpa’s barbershop in town where she would sit in the window

    Scooter waited patiently for her he was getting bigger, too

    And they called it puppy love, oh I guess they’ll never know how a young heart, how it really feels and why I’ve loved them so. (Paul Anka)

  • once upon a time in a faraway place…

    once upon a time in a faraway place…


    rural Grimes County, Texas in 1946

    new grandparents and mother with post WWII baby girl

    learning to walk with her daddy at railroad tracks

    hello? is it you I’m looking for?

    Madonna and child

  • Molly, Molly, how much do we love thee? let me count the ways

    Molly, Molly, how much do we love thee? let me count the ways


    From her first birthday two years ago to the one we celebrate today, this little girl has been the icing on our cake whenever we see her. For Pretty and me, she is the gift that keeps on giving.

    Molly’s first birthday cake (2023)

    (maternal grandmother Gigi laughs at Molly’s first cake experience)

    when you’re three years old, you can use your hands

    big sister Ella and Mama Caroline help with gifts as Daddy keeps watch

    Molly consoles her best friend who wondered why none of the gifts were hers

    what could possibly be better for a party than the 2024 bounce house?

    (two-year-old Molly and four-year-old Ella in their bare feet had fun!)

    a petting zoo in the backyard!

    the goat was in charge of gymnastics

    Molly, Molly, how much do Nana and Naynay love thee? Let me count the ways – too many to count. You are priceless.