There are a myriad of things I love about this picture. The first thing is, the wonderful job that AI did cleaning up a very old photo, and adding new vibrance to it. I’m actually getting better at knowing the proper cues to give it.
I’m putting this picture around 1956. Just based on the little girl in the blue dress. That is Lynne Thorburn I believe. She was our next-door neighbor, that’s her house behind the wall. She looks to be about 5 in this picture. So it’s just a stab, but I’m guessing this was Kathy’s 4th birthday party. Truly a mellow event and honestly all the moms look bored. Even my Mom in the middle of the picture.
So let me take a crack at the players in the picture, going from left to right. I’ve identified Lynne, I am guessing the blond girl with her back to us is Patty Ziolkowski, another neighbor from across the alley. I’m a bit stumped with the girl on the rocker. Thought it might be my cousin Carla, but I don’t think it is. The young man, who is the oldest kid at the party, and looking like he wants to be elsewhere, is my cousin Jim McWilliams. The trio of ladies, starting with the cigarette lighting Dorothy Ziolkowski, then Nell Thorburn, and my Aunt Mary, who is Jim’s mom. Just underneath Dorothy’s right arm looks to be her son Steve. We move to the middle of the picture and find Mom Mom sitting next to my Mom.
Now it gets dicey. All the others, I’m not sure about. Actually I’m fairly certain about the one woman you can barely see. I think it’s my Aunt Barbara McBeth. I’m saying it is her, because I believe that is my cousin Mike, her son, in front of her. As for the rest, I’d be guessing even more. But the women on the right looking left might be my Aunt Marilyn. So Janis could be the girl on the rocker. I’ll wait for Kathy to possibly clean up my misses and identify those I couldn’t.
I love this picture for its Norman Rockwell vibe. This was before the den was added, and there was just a little slab for a patio. But on the right edge of the picture is a young staked sapling. In about ten years from this picture, it would become a hangout for me. Just one of the best climbing trees of my youth. I could check out the whole neighborhood from a much higher perch.
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