There are whole chunks of things I don’t know about. That’s only my fault. So I try, on some of my visits, to fill in the gaps.

For instance, these are my grandmother’s parents:

That’s a familiar picture, though I don’t remember the two of them. Here’s a picture of them I don’t think I’ve ever seen before:

The boys in the background are my great-uncles. The years melt away, but the same mischief is just noticeable in the eyes you can see on the left margin of the shot. That’s a familiar look. They were old when I was young, but only in that way that adults are old to children. Their creeping up there in years now, of course, but you still see that in the eyes. To see them as ankle biters themselves is amusing.

This picture is a few years later than the previous one. This is my grandmother’s senior portrait:

Cute girl, right? She grew up in the narrowest wide spot in the road in a tucked away corner of northwest Alabama that it is still hard for most people to find. In her yearbook she quoted a first century Syrian, taken as a slave to Italy where he won the favor of his master, who freed and educated him. Publilius Syrus became a writer and actor. The quote: “When we stop to think we often miss our opportunity.”

My grandmother was in the Glee Club and Future Homemakers of America.

Me and my grandmother today. Still a pretty lady:

This is my grandfather’s father. Never met him:

Back with the folks. Allie has been patiently waiting at the table for a treat.