Besides celebrating my birthday and checking out waterfalls, the main reason we went to Florida was to visit my sweet brother, who is in a skilled nursing facility, Westminster Woods, in Jacksonville, Florida. Some of you may not know that I had two older brothers. Ray (the one we visited) is 20 yrs. older than I am (which makes him almost 87. My other brother (Jim) was 12 yrs. older than me, and he lost his life to cancer in 1985 at the young age of 55. My mother was 42 when I was born, and Dad was 53. All are gone now except Ray and me. Today I will share some pictures of brother Ray ---taken through the years. Above is a picture taken on August 4, 2009 when we visited Ray. Below are more!
This was taken about 1945. Ray was 23 and I was 3.
This was on Feb. 18, 1951 --at Ray and Evelyn's wedding. From left to right: me, Evelyn's friend, Evelyn, Ray and our brother Jim. The wedding took place in California. Since my Dad worked for the railroad, we had 'free' passes ---so we rode the train from our home in Virginia all the way to and from California. What a wonderful trip!!!
This one was taken in January of 1953. Our family attended the Eisenhower inauguration in Washington D.C. Ray was 30 and I was 10.
This is Ray and Evelyn, taken in 2004, when they visited George and me here in Tennessee. We of course had to take them to Fall Creek Falls one day while they were here.
Brother and Sister --at Fall Creek Falls, in 2004
Ray and his 'kids' (Bob, Carolyn and Steve); This picture was taken at Evelyn's funeral in September of 2007. Ray and Evelyn have three wonderful children --and six grandchildren, although one is deceased.
Brother and Sister ---taken in Sept. 2007
Taken last Summer (2008) when we visited Ray
Sister and Brother---taken August 4, 2009; God Bless You, Sweet Brother of MINE!! I Love you!
Hugs,
60 comments:
What a wonderful collection of treasured pictures of you two through the years. Thank you for sharing him with us. God bless.
It is all about family. Nice post and thoughtfully presented. It brought tears to my eyes.
Family is 'Everything'...
How wonderful of you to capture your years together...
My Dad's brother was also Twenty years younger than him, everyone thought he was his son!!!
Wishing You & Yours All Happiness...
Marilyn
How sweet Betsy. The love you share, despite your age difference, is palpable.
Beautiful family photos. Very nice and thoughtful post. It says it all. It tells a great story of how much you cherish fammily. Thanks for sharing
Hugs
Rita
Such wonderful pictures showing your life with your big brother, Betsy! I can see the love that you and Ray share in the photos---God bless you both.
I'll bet that Ray looks forward to those happy visits.
Stop by and figure out what kind of bird I found, please.
ms. betsy, this makes me want to sry, waaaahhhh!!! i pray that you both live to be a hundred!!!
Wonderful pictures Betsy. You can see the family resemblence.
With him so much older, it must have been like having another Dad as well as a brother. Bet he took great care of his little sis.
as an "only" I really appreciate your relationship with your brother. The love shows.
That's a sweet tribute to your brother Betsy. I enjoyed seeing the family pics.
Glad you guys made it home safely.
I have a brother 8 years older and a brother 12 years older. My sister was 4 years older but passed away at age 31 from cancer. I am the baby of the family too. Aren't we blessed to have such wonderful big brothers!
Very nice family pictures!! I noticed that you managed to get those waterfalls to show in the pictures! Sweet!
Nice tribute to your big brother!
You're a great baby sister! I enjoyed seeing the photos of big brother over the years.
What a nice post for your brother. I don't have a sister but think everyone should have at least one.
Craig
Wonderful tribute to your big brother. I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to have siblings so much older than you. It's wonderful that you remained so close.
Beautiful photos, Betsy, and wonderful memories!
Betsy,
I know your thoroughly enjoyed your trip to see your big brother. From the pictures he looks to be a very healthy 87 years old. --Randy
Betsy, what a lovely tribute to your brother. Families are so important.
Sunny :)
Be, what a wonderful tribute to a sweet brother from an even sweeter sister. Hey, I have a brother that is 20 years younger that i. Maybe someday he will show pictures of the both of us. MB
I love the smoochy pic! He looks like a real sweetheart!
What lovely photos and memories you have with your sweet Brother. I can't imagine him being 20 years old...seems like you almost had 2 Daddy's.
Good memories and yes, there is a family resemblance!!
What a wonderful post about your brother. How wonderful you have each other. And what wonderful photos you have. You two must have an extra special bond. Bless you both.
I'm happy you were able to enjoy a visit with your brother on your recent trip to Florida. My big brother died more than a decade ago and I miss him still.
Hugs and blessings,
What wonderful memories! That last picture brought tears to my eyes. My brother died 19 years ago from diabetes. He would have been 60 this September.
Looks like you were close inspite of the age difference. Thanks for sharing!
Betsy,
Its so nice you stay in tough and it looks like you had a great visit!! I'm jealous...lost my brother two years ago at the age of 62. Love to see you are visiting with yours..you are such a good sis!!
Really enjoyed this post, Betsy! Ray is fortunate to have you for a little sister. Great pictures, all of them!
Betsy, it's so sweet that you can still cherish him.
Your pictures of you and your brother are great. I know you love each other very much. I enjoyed looking at your pictures of all your flowers below and seeing your house. I could just imagine you there. It is such a pretty place.
The cardinal is Kentucky's state bird so we have them around a lot and I have a red-headed woodpecker that comes by once in a while. One morning it was pecking on my gutter and scared me to death! My whole yard is full of trees and it was pecking on the gutter!
It is precious to see the two of you together,enjoy the times you have.
Blessings,Ruth
Betsy: What a beautiful tribute to your brother.
Time flies ... but oh the memories!!!
Hi Betsy,
Thanks for stopping by. If you get a chance and go back to my post on June 20, called Shelburne Falls, there is a short video of the falls.
Have a great day.
Sunny :)
Beautiful pictures! How great that you have such a wonderful relationship still.
You didn't mention his health, is it as good as it can be?
Awww...How sweet & you are such a good sister!
My mom was 42 when I was born also. Everyone always thought I was her grandkid and her my grandma.
Hi Betsy,
I have an award for you at: http://barnyardsandbarnaclesawards.blogspot.com/
I really enjoy your blog but you are not under obligation. To be honest, I have very mixed feelings about awards.
If you would like accept them, just link it back to http://barnyardsandbarnacles.com
If you'd rather pass, I understand.
Thanks so much.
Sunny :)
What wonderful pictures of your family. It's nice to see pictures from years ago. Family is EVERYTHING!!!!
I'm so glad you got to see "older" brother. He is as handsome as his pretty sis.
I lost my oldest brother in 89 & I still miss him. In last couple yrs. have gotten re-acquainted with 2nd oldest brother. Talk quite a bit to baby brother. "Me", I'm the third child & only girl.
Oh Betsy, you know how to get a lump in our throats. What sweet pictures and amazing memories that surround you and your brother. How cool to take a train trip like that. That wedding was gorgeous. His sweet Evelyn was so pretty.
That is cool you went to an inauguration.
Glad you got to spend time with him recently.
♥ Joy
Awww.... family is wonderful and I love the pictures of you and your brother. I had tears before the end of your pics today. Thank you for sharing.
That is so precious Betsy!
Ooooh Betsy, you both look so sweet together.. the look on your face is one of such joy and caring.
Ray seems to be doing very well, he must be content living in the retirement home.
How lovely that you get to visit with him, and share the memories.
Betsy - I'm so glad to meet your older brother! he's obviously very special and I'm glad you still have him!! Makes me appreciate my siblings more. Time flies....moments are more precious.
Hugs to you, Shelley
This is a wonderful post, Betsy! I was going to try to catch up but it is starting to storm again. So may unplug everything...I do not totally trust surge protectors.
Such a sweet picture!!...hugs...m..
Wonderful post. So nice you have the older pics, but will also treasure the more recent ones.
Hi Ms Betsy, this is such a sweet post, makes me teary. After all, its about family, and sharing...I love your photos through the years.
Family is so important. Thank you for sharing these special photos with us. The photo of you as a 3 year old is adorable! I also love the Fall Creek Falls photos.
They're all really great pics, but I just love the one of you & brother at 23 & 3! It's SOOOOO CUUUUUTE! hehehe
God bless him, he looks sooo sweet!
So sweet Betsy, what a loving story!
Oh Betsy..happy belated Happy Birthday. The pictures are so lovely and warms my heart...
I really like that last photo of the kiss. So glad you two were able to visit.
You were such a cute little girl in the photos!
How precious! My parents were older too, 39 and 49. I just say I was a love child since I was born in 1960. Aren't big brothers wonderful! xoxo
I know how badly you were feeling that Ray was down there in Florida so I am so happy that you got to see him and share these photos.....Michelle
I'm glad you had the opportunity to visit your brother, Betsy. Brothers are wonderful. I enjoyed meeting yours through these pictures.
Wonderful collection of photos, Betsy! I love posts about family!
Rest in peace, Ray. Evelyn is waiting for you.
Wonderful and sweet post. It touches me. Ray is home.
Post a Comment