Four Generations

Frances Smith Drennen, our grandmother, holding me; Gramma Smith, Frances' mother, holding fat baby Kurt; and Padi

Me and Paw Paw

Susan & Paw Paw, August 1959

Leonard & Padi Get Married

Leonard and Padi were married on September 16, 1955, in Washington, Missouri. They are the cutest!

Leonard, Padi and the Garter

Marian and Frances Drennen, Padi's sister and mother

Anna and Carol Mirtsching, Leonard's mother and sister

Charles and Anna Mirtsching, Leonard's parents, and

Frances and Tom Drennen, Padi's parents

Carol, Leonard, Padi, Marian, and Padi's brother Tommy

Rich Wiedemann, Leonard's cousin and life-long best friend,

 Leonard, Padi, and Joan McSalley, a close family friend

Leonard and Padi and rice

Leonard and Padi and champagne

Leonard and Padi and the getaway ride

Aww!

(Or, if they're your parents, Eww!)

Leonard on the Open Sea

A few months after I was born, my father went on a cruise of the west Pacific on the USS Helena. Here he is, a spanky ensign, with the watch.

August 19, 1957

This photo is an enlargement of another that Leonard took of himself. On the back of the original, along with the usual date stamp, is his note: "Self timer on bridge -- sat camera on writing desk & let it click away -- I was actually on watch at the time."

He apparently sent the photo (and probably others) home to his father, who made the enlargement you see above. On the back of this photo, my grandfather wrote:

With the enlarger all the up, & the 2"in focal lenght lens on for enlarging .35 mm negatives, I made this blow up. Just to see what the grain would do, not bad at all, held a few feet away it looks real good. Ask your ships photographer to give you his comments. outside of a few dust spots.

Leonard Plays the Trumpet

October 1958

Here we are, Maw Maw, me, and Leonard sitting on the floor -- something Mirtschings don't normally do. Leonard's all, Let's see if I can toot this horn like I did in high school, and gramma's all, Is that baby warm enough?, and I'm all, What?

Dig the barkcloth curtains! A little bit of Hawaii in St. Louis, Missouri.

Leonard the Sailor Man

October 23, 1953

Padi Goes Camping

We traveled a lot when I was a kid. My parents hardly ever stayed in hotels or ate in restaurants. When you're young and money is tight, camping's an ideal way to travel. And clearly it's not incompatible with rocking the hairdo.

Here's my mother in June of 1957. I was four months old. Judging from all the dead soldiers on the table, I was probably in the tent sleeping off a cola drunk.