kissing cousins

A favorite picture of me and Cousin Peter Browne, circa 1968.

Loved to kiss those California cousins!

Bonus point: Why is there a trash can in the middle of the table?

ghosts of christmas past

Nick at Grandma Susie's house, East Bridgewater, 1993

Hannah in Middleboro, 1997 or 98

Lucy in Towson, Maryland, 1958

Dorothy, Lucy, Sara in Hyattsville, Maryland, 1960

love poem at christmas

Uncle Jack Loomis and Aunt Eleanor Brown were partners for over 50 years. They met in 1918, during World War I in France, where she was a telephone operator in the Signal Corps and he was stationed in Tours. Throughout their photo albums is evidence of the deep love they had for each other, their families, and their animals. Aunt Eleanor was the subject of most of the pictures, as Uncle Jack trained his lens on her with loving regularity. There are pictures of hikes through the Palisades, visits to Central Park, stays with friends, visits to the Washington Zoo, international travel, silliness with dogs and birds. They had no children, but their photo albums are populated with photos of their niece and nephews and their children -- us!

In 1936 Aunt Eleanor took a trip to Seattle for a month at Christmastime. Uncle Jack sent her the card pictured above with the following poem:

Gee, I miss you, Funny Person,
When the house is still and quiet
And the clock's eternal ticking
Rends the silence like a riot.
And I miss you in the morning,
In the evening, all the time.
So return with flying footsteps,
Answering my humble rhyme.
--J.P.L.

At this season of the year, when we're sometimes not sure what we're celebrating, I wish you the kind of love that this poem celebrates – rich, deep, and profound. ~~xxxooo

cousin peter

Cousin Peter Browne passed away on November 25th. I know we all spent Thanksgiving weekend praying for his recovery and sending loving and healing thoughts out to California. Though many of us hadn't seen Peter since Fransje and John's wedding at Halcyon Farms, we kept up with the Liebowtiz family news through Aunt Nan and Sylvie.

Here are several links to great articles about Peter's life and organizations he was passionate about:

Holy Names Universtiy http://www.hnu.edu/
Inside Bay Area.com http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/ci_7588705
Castro Valley Center for the Arts http://www.cv.k12.ca.us/cfa.html
Oakland Zoo http://www.oaklandzoo.org/

happy birthday

In a previous post I mentioned cousin Jon Loomis' new novel, and his brother Dana's move to Nevada. Well, here is a photo of us Loomis cousins, being "arranged" by our fathers for a nice photo in Grandma's Ruxton garden -- dated June 1961. Uncle Dana is clearly trying to force Jon and Sara to hold hands against their will. Young Dana is politely standing by, holding his little car. Dorothy has her squinty mad face on. And Dad is trying to keep me from escaping with a death-grip to my head. I guess the photographer gave up trying to wait for a better shot. "I'm taking the damned picture now!"

Dad's birthday is coming up on November 2nd. He would have been 78. The year before he died, he told me that he didn't care if Brud and I got married (we'd been living together for 6 years at that point) -- he just wanted more grandchildren. So for my birthday he gave me glow-in-the-dark sheets (I guess to get that baby-making action going), and a copy of Dr. Spock's Guide to Baby Care. Thanks to those sheets, Nick was born the year after Dad died, and I kept the Dr. Spock guide on my bedside table for instant consultation every time that poor child made so much as a peep. So, happy birthday, Dad, and thanks for your help in getting my family started.

Here's that favorite picture of Dad, Uncle Dana, and Aunt Esther -- brothers and sister / 3 monkeys -- circa 1989.