In first grade, I was the second tallest student. (The first tallest was over 6' in seventh grade and became a star basketball player.) This photograph of our family Christmas card confirms what I remember: I was tall for a little person.
Notice that the top of my head reaches my mother's shoulder. My brother David is only a head taller than I am, yet he's 4 1/2 years older.
Here's the kicker: I was 8 years old. 8!About the photograph: We're standing on the bridge under the Robin Hood metal silhouette and wooden sign Daddy made. Despite the coats and pea jackets, it was a hot day. My mother liked to plan ahead.
Caption: "We 3 are really Hood(lums) / But, at this time of year, / We make out like we're angels / And spread the Christmas cheer."
Christmas 1947. My first Christmas. Billy, on my right, was 7, and David, with the blond crew cut, was 5.
I noticed this photograph when I came home this afternoon. I turned on a living room lamp, turned around, and saw this one -- among other family snaps -- on the little table my brother Billy bought for me on eBay. Our happy faces (especially mine) remind me of the little children now in our family -- four of them under five (but not for long).
Every year our parents made our Christmas cards, at least until Mother died in 1963. Most often, Daddy would design the card, and Mother would write it. On this treasured photograph I'm certain Daddy took and probably even printed, Mother has written the caption in red ink. This beautiful card is one of the few things I still have that brings my parents together in a palpable way that feels like family.
Childhood was a grand time when everything ahead seemed magic beyond belief. I loved my childhood, and I love my brothers and parents.
In first grade, I was the second tallest student. (The first tallest was over 6' in seventh grade and became a star basketball player.) This photograph of our family Christmas card confirms what I remember: I was tall for a little person.
