Relatives
I don't have many relatives on my side. I was an only child, and my father hated pretty much everyone (who reciprocated). My mother died when I was 18, and my father remarried and moved away and won't tell me where he lives. But I do have a few good photos of some important people in my life, and in many cases, a lot of diplomatic restraint on my part.
Here is a great picture of my grandmother Edith and grandfather John, shortly after being married. We think this photo was taken around 1935. I got this when my grandmother passed away in 2000.
I want to thank my mother's old friend Paul for sending this to me. This is a photo made back in the mid-1940s when my mother and her parents would vacation near Segola in Michigan. My mother Gladys and her mother Edith are on the far right.
Here's my mother all grown-up. This was shortly after I was born, taken in Sherwood Forest while we lived in England. I'd always like to remember my mother this way, before things got bad. Her story is a tragic one of blind love and the frailty of the human spirit. I miss her very much.
This is the only picture I have of my father. He hated his picture being taken worse than I ever did. He is with his second wife, Nicole, a very pleasant and well-brought up lady at my son's birthday party in 1996. He's some high muckety-muck with the IEEE, and very well respected in his field. That's about all I can say nice about him. Nicole is very nice, with a degree from Oxford, and a pleasant sense of diplomacy. Contray to what most likely happens in these kinds of akward situations, I actually can say many nice things about Nicole. They seem happy together, which is good, because people need people. I only hope Arv treats her a hell of a lot better than he treated my mother and I.
This is my uncle's family. From L-R are cousin David, Aunt Angela, Uncle Chuck, and myself. The weirdest thing about this is this was taken at my mother's funeral in 1987. My uncle and I are wondering why my father is asking us to smile for the camera, which is while our smiles look odd. Aunt Angela commented later that my father treated this whole event like a business-run luncheon. I hope to get more current pictures of these folks when I visit them again (I do love them dearly).
Here's the family I love so much. In 1999, we are getting ready for the Maryland Renn Fest, and generally goofing around. I swear to God I love these two people. I have become a much better person because of them. If 18 years of a suffering hellish childhood was so I could spend the rest of my life with this family, it was worth the payment.
Here we are, with Kiki, about to pet a Liger from the now defunct Virginia Renn Fest in May of 1999. The liger is half lion, half tiger, and this thing was huge. They let us come onstage and pet him, which was pretty cool, if not a bit odd. Kiki (in pink) is a girl that we have been taking care of from time to time, while she has been having family issues (we came close to adopting her at one point).
It was odd because the Liger, for such a huge cat, had a very flabby-feeling back, like we were petting a furry Jell-O mold. The Liger was very hot (it was like 85 deg F outside that day), panting a lot, and lethargic. This was taken by one of the trainers. I don't think Kiki was very thrilled.
Here is my Swedish family. All of them are cousins on my mother's side. Top row, R-L are Tobjorn, his parents Jon Eric and Karin, and Susann's sambo Kristar. Bottow has Maria (Tobjorn's wife) and their sons Gustav (in lap) and David, then there is grandmother Henna, and then Susann and her son Axel. If you can see the teeny ficgures coming up the hill on the far right, that's Siv and I think Lisa. This was taken at Henna's house, on the edge of a huge hill overlooking a lake where until 2001, she used to row out, fish, and collect berries daily (at age 91).
Karin icefishing in winter of 2001. Jon Eric and Karin ice fish every winter, and then have fights who is the better fisherman. I have seen the ice house and snowmobile personally, but only in the summer.
Here's my grand-neice (Christine's sister Debbie's grand-daughter) Caitlin, holding onto the "Build-a-bear" we made for her. What a cutie!
Here's Heather (my niece-in-law, if that's a word, Christine's sister Brenda's daughter) with her miracle baby daughter Courtney.