Family Photos, Part 2

Mom (Jan Skaggs) looking young, slim, and attractive. Late 1950s? As I go through the photos in this album and reproduce them here, I am so thankful she kept the album and labeled many of the photos with names and dates!

Keith, Dad, and me on Dad’s Schwinn, June 1965. I remember riding the bike this way. It was always a treat to go riding with Dad—and a little scary, as I balanced on that bar. And uncomfortable too! We would ride to downtown Fredericksburg, crossing railroad tracks on the way—bumpity bumpity bump, hold on tight!

I assume this is the Cleveland Airport, June 1965. No one was hijacking or blowing up planes yet, so security was quite lax. It was fun (and loud!) to watch them take off and land. L to R: Steve, Keith, Dad.

My first cousin Jill Skaggs, daughter of Dad’s brother Leo and his wife, Bonnie. What a cutie!

Two more first cousins, Eddie and Kathy, son and daughter of Dad’s brother Eddie and his wife, Shirley. I wish I could have known my Skaggs cousins better growing up, but distance made that impossible.

Oh, the hours I spent riding this horse! You could bounce up and down or rock back and forth as energetically as you wanted! Christmas 1962.

Love you, Keithie! Steve, age 3; Keith, 14 months. It’s amazing to see a photo like this and think, “I know exactly where this was taken!” (In the playroom at our house at the north end of Fredericksburg.)

Wearing our Sunday best, May 1964. Another photo where I can tell you exactly where we were standing—outside Grandma and Grandpa’s house at the north end of Fredericksburg. OK, I’ll go ahead and say it: Nobody dresses up anymore! Adults, L to R: Aunt Millie, Grandma Swartz. Kids, L to R: John Brinkerhoff, me, Peggy Brinkerhoff, Jim Brinkerhoff.

Grandma Swartz holding Keith. Probably April of 1964, when he was a newborn.

Uncle Leo (second from left) was my dad’s oldest brother. He was a preacher, a singer, and educator, and a man who never, ever stopped learning, earning his second master’s degree when he was—wait for it—ninety years old. Here he is singing in a men’s quartet in 1961. He passed away in 2021 at the age of 93. The man at the far left above is Ron Merrill; I do not know who the other two men are. Anybody know?

I really like this photo of Dad and cousin Jerry, who was Leo and Bonnie’s oldest son. Years later Jerry came to live with us for awhile, when he was in his late teens and I was in elementary school. It was like having a big brother for awhile. I think Jerry has a long beard now. Obviously he grew it after this photo was taken.

Some fun shots of Peggy as a little, little girl. The last one was taken by her mom after she discovered Peg enjoying a tasty snack of Spry vegetable shortening. Yum!

I believe this was taken at the Brinkerhoffs’ house on Geyers Chapel Road in Wooster, Ohio. Eventually the Brinks moved to Massachusetts and then to Florida, but we always remained close. Millie, Russ, and Peggy moved back to Fredericksburg later in life, and Peg and Russ still share a cabin in the woods today. Anybody know the family on the left? At the back of the table is Uncle Russ, then my dad, then Aunt Millie holding Peggy.

OK, here’s one more of Peg, just to prove that we did have color film back then!

Me on my third birthday, 1964. I do not remember that day, of course, but I do remember those toys—the blocks and that cash register lasted for a long time!

Halloween 1964. Mom had made this tiger costume, and it was miserably hot!

When I saw this photo, I immediately remembered that piece of art over the couch—a color photo (I believe) of a wooded lakeside. Of course, it’s long gone now, and I hadn’t thought of it for years. But the photo brought it back. Memory is a fascinating thing!

Keith, 1965. Looks a little bit like Oliver Hardy in the photo on the left. . . .

Rusty and Suzanne Stoneman were siblings. I don’t know who Nancy was. Poor Peg, always surrounded by squirrelly boys who weren’t interested in cooperating with her wishes!

I love this one! John is having fun!

Left: Me in 1962. Right: Louie Anderson dressed as his character Christine Baskets from the TV show Baskets in 2016. Louie claimed he patterned Christine after his own mother. Obviously that was a lie. I think the photos above speak for themselves.