A Quiet Goodbye To A Good Man

My grandmother called him "Jimmy." Everyone else called him by his last name, even some of the nurses who cared for him at the end.

This is a photograph of him when he was eighteen, standing on the beach and on the brink of a world war.

He died today, my sweet uncle.

James Gilbert Moose
1924-2008

For Margaret

Miss Margaret and I may share a limb or two on the Reavis Family Tree. I'm only there by marriage, though; she's an actual Reavis.

I thought I'd post some more of the old family tintypes for her (and you, if you're interested). As I said earlier, they were in my late sister in law's possession. She never mentioned having them and she may not have known they were among the boxes of "stuff" her family had collected. In any event, these folk may be Reavis forebears, or they may be members of the Hopkins, Way, or Clendenon clan. They may not be family members at all or they may be from another branch on the family tree I'm not aware of. We'll never know.

Let's start with the "dandy." He's very elegant, I think, and I'm guessing he's circa 1880s. The umbrella is a nice touch -- is the hat a "pork pie?"


























The young man in this next photograph is wearing what I think is a "slouch" hat. Confederate soldiers wore hats like these, but I'm certain this photograph is from a later period. He's also wearing considerable "bling," possibly indicating his status as the oldest or the only son. If I were to guess, I'd say he may have the Reavis men blue eyes:




























This is one of two women in the collection. About the only thing I can tell from the photo is that the pattern for the bodice of the dress wasn't cut so that the plaids would match:



























And here's the other one. She's wearing a ring on the third finger of her left hand, which may or may not mean she was married. In some old wedding photos, you can see the wedding ring on the right hand. Unless the photograph was printed in reverse. (shrug) But whatever her status, she has a very world weary expression for one so young. I can't help but wonder what makes her face so grave:
























If she happened to belong to this man, it may explain why she looks that way. He's very...intense, isn't he? And no nonsense. No starched collar on the shirt. No watch fobs. He's having his photograph taken -- but I don't think he's happy about it:
























That's all for this time...

Manga-ed

Several years ago I received an email regarding a reader's website in Japan. She had enjoyed the Japanese translations of some my Silhouette Special Editions, and she wanted me to see several manga-like sketches of some of the characters she had posted. I thought they were wonderful.

I came across them again the other day. I know her only as "kcjun," and I hope she won't mind if show them to you here:


This is "Adam" and his little brother from A Crime of the Heart:




























And this is "Ben" and "Eden" from Tenderly:



























This is "Rita" and "Mac" from The Long Way Home, I think when he smacked her on the head with a pencil for not paying attention to his math tutoring:

















And this (I think) is me:








ありがとう (Thank you), "kcjun"