Lottie's Photos: Cousins 1954

This is one of my favorites of my mother’s photos because it depicts a group of family members that she very rarely captured. It was taken in 1954 not long after my parents had completed building our new family home in Castro Valley. From left to right are Jeanette Frink (Jo Pattillo’s daughter and my father’s cousin), Anna Pattillo, Marge Pattillo holding 2 ½-year-old Pat, Lottie with Laine Lawrence at 9 or 10 standing in front of her, Judy Gauger, 15 (Jeanette’s daughter), and Karen Lawrence, 16. I am standing in front of Judy and would have been 4 when this photo was taken.

The giant camellia that now fills the corner behind where they are standing either hadn’t been planted or it was very small. Our grandfather developed hybrid camellias and he gave several plants to our parents for their new home. Unfortunately, he failed to convey how large they would grow so mom and dad were forever brutally pruning them back so we would be able to walk around the side of the house.

No one knew at the time this photo was taken that Laine and I would both develop a passion for family history and that our connection and friendship would develop many years later. One of the highlights of my genealogical research was an afternoon Mom and I spent with Laine and her mother Elma at their home in Brentwood. It was at  that time that Elma told me about our great grandmother Carrie Brooks Stover and our connection through her to the White House. At the time it seemed rather fanciful but years later when I found documentation that proved the story, I knew it was true.