A Family Birthday

Today is my cousin's birthday. She was the first grandchild for my mother's mother. Two years older than me, she is the daughter of my mother's older sister, Lydia. Looking through my mother's photo albums, I came across these photos of her childhood days.

Here she is with her brother, who was a year younger...

And here are the three of us, sitting near a gas pump at my father's Hay Lakes, Alberta garage.

Their family was the first to move from Alberta to Kelowna. A few years later, my grandparents followed. Then my parents decided to make the move, too. So my brother and I got to know these cousins well in our growing up years.

Gary, unfortunately, passed away at the age of 17 of Hodgkin's Disease. He was a sweet, gentle young man...

Now my cousin is the mother of four girls and the grandmother of... I've lost count of how many grandchildren...! (Seven?)

Happy birthday! And may the year ahead be full of good health and joy!