My Mom was a fashionista from the very start!
A dressed-up Kathleen Joan Nelsen on her Christening Day, January 1952.
My Mom is seen with her parents above and her Godparents (Aunt Marion & Uncle Richard) below.
A Father-Daughter Dance.
An oddly-cropped camera misfire with gorgeous results: My young Grandmother with my smiling Mom.
Later that same year: Cousins celebrating with the rest of the family.
Ladies in a Holiday Coffe Klatch (above) my Great Grandparents' priceless Holiday Manger (below).
My Mom gets her first lesson in Holiday Swag. Sorry, Kate... No Ralph Lauren this year.
And ONCE AGAIN, let the record show... NOBODY, but NOBODY was starving.
There's something about that doll emerging from under that fake brick drape that makes me laugh.
My Mom flanked by my twin cousins Lois and Dianne... Picture Perfect Ladies.
I have no idea who these kids are. I just like their style.
And, in closing... No family photo set would be complete without a very telling non sequitur.
My Uncle Henny (at right) is pictured at work at a mechanic's garage with an unnamed colleague and a fetching pictoral centerpiece. The 1950s "Dirty Old Man" pinup calendar coupled with the sly grin he is most definitely choking back over his can of Ballantine Beer says everything you need to know about the hilarious, brilliantly witty, totally wiseass (but extremely kind and loving) man he was.
We are who we are in this life... All we can do is be great at it.
