Kith & Kin

Cousins on a summer day at the grandparents ’  house. My brother Keith is on the far left, and our cousin Scott is next to him. I ’ m next, standing with my arm around Scott. Loren is the tall kid in the middle with the New Mexico T-shirt on, and his sister Robin is right beside him. I never told anybody this before, but I had a crush on Robin — I think you can see why! I recently received a text from my brother Eric: “Just got word from cousin Robin that Aunt Karon died on June 1.” That was only three days ago. She was 86 years old. Aunt Karon was the fourth child born to my grandfather Weston Skaggs . Born in 1937, she was the family’s only girl. Her older half-brothers were Leo, Eddie, and my dad, Nyle. Weston’s first wife, Eva, passed away fifteen days after my dad was born; Grandpa remarried, and he and his second wife—we called her Buddy —had just one child, Audris Karon. Dad was born in 1936, so he and Karon were close in age. But I never heard him talk about their ch...

My cousin Peggy is three years older than I am. We have been close ever since we were very small children and she dressed me up in little girl clothes like I was one of her dolls. As far as I know, only one photo exists of me thusly attired, which is one more photo than I wish there were of me thusly attired. I once told my mother that when I grew up, I wanted to marry Peggy. Grandma Swartz, standing nearby, reacted in typical Grandma Swartz style. “Oh, Stevie, you can’t marry your first cousin! Your children will be deformed! They won’t be right!” Mom’s wise reply: “For heaven’s sake, Mom, he’s only five years old! He’s not really going to marry her!” Why our children would be deformed was a mystery to me, but it didn’t really matter in the long run because Peg and I never married each other anyway. Peggy and I got to discussing birthdays once when we were kids, and we came to realize that I was born on September 22, and she was born on December 22. “We were both born on the...

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 growi...

NOTE: This was published months ago . . . I thought. But I found it listed in my drafts, so here it is again. A while back my brother Eric scanned in over twenty pages from one of my mom ’ s scrapbooks. I ’ ll post some of them here and more in the future, along with my comments and memories. Brothers, cousins, and others, feel free to comment! Dad and me, 1961. Time to wake up! What a cute little booger I was! 1961. Great-Grandma Mabel Slutz holding me, 1961. Wendell Sidle and his sons, Doug and Mike (behind the swing). And that’s me and Dad on the right. July 1962. Mom and Wendell’s wife, Caroline, became friends when they worked in the office together at Rubbermaid. This was taken on the front porch of our house at the north end of Fredericksburg. I remember that swing. And I remember being friends with Doug growing up—he and I were lab partners in high school Biology. Doug died in 1989 at age 27. I think he died of a heart attack, but I do not remember for sure. Too young—very sad...