Ducks In A Row

When we were kids, every year on Thanksgiving Mom and Dad lined up their 6 girls like little ducks in a row for the annual Christmas card photo.

In the beginning, it was easy . . .

Ann, me, MB, back in the good ol' days of '63.

We were happy to oblige for the good of the cause . . .

Me, MB, Ann, 1964.

. . . and frankly, in the early days, we didn't have much of a clue about what was going on . . .

. . . until the fateful year Mom and Dad woke me up from a nap for the Christmas-photo-taking-session. I was not pleased:


This is my favorite photo -- bar none -- ever taken of me.

This one's pretty great, too, with our matching red footie pjs, and my big lumpy diaper.

Anyway, things got a little more complicated when Julie joined the group shot . . .


1966

Please notice Ann wearing the dress MB wore the year before. We all wore that dress, and then my nieces wore it too.

. . . and then Jane joined the show . . .

1967

. . . and then Jacquie came along . . .

1968

(There's a really great Christmas card photo of all of us in Korea just a few weeks after Jacquie was born. It's the only photo -- out of all the thousands and thousands of them -- where Dad actually looks overwhelmed. It's hanging on the wall in Mom's bedroom and I don't have a copy of it. That, however, will soon change.)

And then, well, the years went on.

We had the Year of All The Hair . . .

. . . and the Year of the Groovy Collar . . .

. . . and the Year of the Short, Short, Short Dress . . .

. . . and then we had quite a few Year of the Dork. Well, except for Jane who had apparently just graduated from flight school.

I can't even make fun of this one. It's just so cuuute.

Oh yes, the Dork Brigade back in action.

This isn't a Christmas card, but it is Christmas, and Dad looks just so entirely content. This one is for all those silly people who say, "Six daughters? Oh, your poor Dad."

Yeah, poor Dad.

Finally in 1990 we got smart and left all that Northeast nonsense behind and spent Christmas on St. John. That was a shining moment in this family. And we were all completely smitten with our first niece. Quito Girl!

We also got smart in 2001 and all went to San Diego for Christmas.

Oh, we were very smart in 2001.

The sisters were all together . . .

. . . and for the first time in our history we made a pyramid. Why did it take us 30 years to figure out we have the perfect number of sisters for a pyramid??

Oh, of course the boys got into the fun too.

But the best thing about 2001 was all the wee nieces and nephews were together for the first time in their wee little lives. Which they are going to do again next weekend.

Dad would love it.