THE CHILDREN OF YESTERYEAR

Daughter Hallie remarked that she mostly couldn’t identify the children in the photographs posted yesterday. There’s a good reason for that. They were all adults by the time she, the youngest grandchild, was born. In fact, my three children did not share the “cousin bond.”

I say “the cousin bond” because my four siblings, much older than I, had their children between 1955 and 1968. (In fact, one year (between July 1961 and April 1962), each one of them welcomed a baby.) The cousins were more or less close in age and were friends and playmates. But just as I was in between the siblings and the cousins in age, my three children were closer in age to the great-grandchildren than the cousin tier to which they actually belong. The family dynamic just wasn’t the same for them and neither was the camaraderie.

This picture from 1964 was also posted yesterday. Starting from left: Becky Reece, Papa, Keri Walrath, Shann Profitt, Kyle Walrath and Polly Profitt standing in back, little Rachel Reece in front, and I think that's Konni Walrath on the stool -- or possibly Mary Nunan.

This is a good photo of the cousin group at Christmas 1964. From left, Polly Profitt and Becky Reece are holding Mike Nunan; Rachel Reece peeks around Mary Nunan's shoulder; Shann Profitt, and L.J. Reece; Christi Profitt on Kathy Dobson's lap, and Jerry Profitt.

Here's a nice snapshot of Becky Reece in 1965 -- 8 years old.

Taken in 1965: Polly Profitt and Becky Reece in back; Shann Profitt, Keri Walrath, and Konni Walrath in center; and Christi Profitt in front.