Mine

I am sitting here. You can have this seat later.

Piggyback rides

Molly looks concerned for her safety. She doesn't seem convinced that Bradley has a particularly strong hold on her.

Gladys on tour

Great Aunt Gladys did a lot of traveling.

Here she is at John Smith's grave.



What is it with this family and standing (or sitting) in front of graves? It's almost as frequent as the way that we stand in front of statues or sort-of-famous buildings.

Clownie Jon

My mother made many of our Halloween Costumes, particularly those when we were young (as we got older, she put them together from things we had. The early ones, she sewed.)

This also meant that the gender neutral costumes got passed down to Jon, who didn't have to go as the Queen of Hearts or a witch (though that would have been funny) but went as the clown.

The clown costume made it into our regular repertoire of costumes -- you know, for daily wear.

This picture is from my dad.

In the gardens

Kenneth in the flowers at Centennial Park, Nashville.

I'm fairly certain that this picture was taken shortly after my grandparents moved to Nashville. Grandpa finished up his Ph.D. at the University of Missouri and took a job as a history professor at Peabody College (now Vanderbilt's College of Education). That was 1947.

Seminarian

My dad ready to head to seminary ...


I'm fond of this shot
.

Baby Emily's Jug Band

I look very excited to be holding this milk jug. I don't know why either.

The Cooper boys

A picture from the late 1920s or early 1930s.

On the left is my great uncle Harold and on the right is my grandfather Kenneth.

I think that grandpa is showing off the flower. Both look a little bored with having their photo taken. But they are both wearing nice ties ...

Reading with grandpa

Another photo of someone reading to me.

Here, it's my grandfather, Kenneth Cooper. The stack of books beside me are copies of the sixth grade social studies textbook my grandfather wrote.

That book made it possible for me to pay for college. Where I read a lot.



(Picture thanks to my dad.)

More baby photos

Baby Kent with my grandmother Ruthe.

Baby Bradley with his mother, Ann.

No relation between the photos, except that these were people who were babies before I knew them.

Flappers

We did not usually wear coordinating Halloween costumes. Or coordinating clothes in general (with one exception).

But here we are for Halloween (1979? 1980? I'm not sure), all ready for the church Halloween party.*



*That's right, we are members of the type of church that have Halloween parties. Not the type of parties where you avoid mentioning Halloween. The type of parties where everyone dresses up and eats too much candy.

Midcentury photo

Aunt Gladys with her lovely niece and nephew, Barbara and Kent. Aunt Dorothy's in the background.

Somebody combed my hair

Continuing the hair theme...



This is the aftermath of Aunt Dorothy deciding that my hair needed to be combed. Okay, aftermath isn't the right word, but still.

I didn't have a whole lot of hair, as you'll note, so it wasn't often neatly combed like this. I'm guessing that it didn't stay this neat for very long, but I look very happy and ready for my close-up.

Haircut!

Just Kent getting a haircut. In the bathroom.


For some reason, the family actually has a large number of pictures of my grandmother cutting people's hair or, like this one, pictures of people recently having a Ruthe haircut.

I guess I pay a lot more for my haircuts now.

Ruthe plays with pets

My grandmother, Ruthe, always loved animals. I'm not sure who owned this dog, but Ruthe seems to be training it well. I think that's the Cooper house in Atchison in the background.

Because sometimes, it's most important to eat ice cream

Winter doesn't always really matter. Dessert is usually more important.



This photo shows Craig and Carl (my dad) sitting on the font porch eating ice cream. Wearing their winter coats. Circa 1955.

Picture thanks to my dad.

Making do

We have always just made our fun from whatever is on hand. For example, most of my doll furniture -- and my mother's doll furniture for that matter -- was created out of sturdy packing materials.


So, when you lack a pool, just do what Uncle Kent did and sit in a bucket.

Bradley's got skills

Bradley playing baseball in Willows, California.

You will note that he slid over the base.

Reading to Barbara

I've noticed that the family pictures from the Isaacson/Cooper side of the family tend to show people reading or being read to.


This one shows my mother Barbara being read to by my grandmother Ruthe.

Or else Barbara has just gotten in the way of the newspaper.

Either way, she's less attentive to the reading than she is when she attempts to read to Kent.