And baby makes five

Circa 1972. Marksboro, N.J. I'm thinking it was Easter Sunday. We made a handsome family. My sisters seemed like giants to me then. Now I see how young they still were, too. Still at least a head or two shorter than my mom. Yes, my hair really was that light and straight long ago.

Uncle Russell's place

This old homestead still stands today in New Jersey. About 20 years ago, someone with a soft spot for rickety old houses and barns fell in love with it and restored the property. Today, he calls it Everitt Farm in honor of our family. I'm glad to know it's still cared for.

Dad and me

Front yard of our High Bridge, N.J., home, circa 1971. I wonder if that tree's still there.

George and Erma

My dad's folks started their life together pretty early on in the 20th century. They survived the Great Depression pretty well in tiny Baptisttown, N.J. My Pop Pop worked for decades in a spark plug plant. It's probably gone now.

Amos and Sara

An outhouse, a hammock, and a fireplace. My mother's parents celebrated their golden anniversay with the extended family at Gap View, a family camp we all shared in the Poconos. That would be the last time we all gathered there.

Welcome to Blairstown

Sometime early in our Blairstown era, 1972ish. The house in the woods that I've been trying to get back to in my heart ever since. I wonder if my treehouse survived.

Nursery school

Before kindergarten, there was the hard work of making crafts in an old kitchen and taking afternoon naps on a sunny living room floor with ten other 5-year-olds. Here's where my mom tried to get me used to the idea of going to school. A love of academia never really found me. However, lunch at Dominic's pizzeria on the way home was a great comfort.

Three snowmen

The obligatory trip to Niagara Falls

Jono

Jono's dad

Two pink, one blue

Karen, Jonathan and Jennifer in Blairstown, N.J., circa 1973. Cat unknown.

Back home

Circa 2009, from left, my sisters Karen and Jennifer hanging out with me on Mom and Dad's front porch steps. We were up to no good, as usual.

Grammy & Pop Pop

Circa 1929. Willard is the one with bare feet.

Five candles

Birthday party, 1975. That's me in the cowboy hat. (The redhead was also Jonathan. Two PKs in a pod.)

Scruffles

My boyhood dog at home in the rocking chair of our Jordan, N.Y., living room, circa 1982.

Kindersomething

At Blairstown Elementary, they called it "Pre-First." An early stab at self-esteem building? I'm in the top row, first on the left. Miss Gillman was a very sweet lady whom I once told that she reminded me of the Bionic Woman. I think it went to her head.

Shenanigans

George and Erma in one of their lighter moments. My Pop Pop was not a short man. Good thing he was pretty slim.

Winter on Bell Street

Must have been sometime around 1984. Not long after, Dad and I painted the house blue (and later, green). Winters were cozy on Bell Street, with a wood-burning stove and good smells coming from the kitchen. I'd close the shutters at night, then peek through them in the morning, hoping for a Snow Day from school.

Raspberry patch

Sara Pepper picking raspberries at the family camp near Cazenovia, circa 1984. Once she discovered the driveway back to the cabin was lined with raspberries and blackberries, there was no tearing her away from the harvest. All she needed was a gigantic walking stick to steady herself against the brambles.

Barn garden

Peonies, ferns and columbines bloom along the wall of the barn-turned-garage on Bell Street in Weedsport, N.Y. Many of the flowers on the property are probably older than I. My parents bought it from the family of a gardener who spent decades filling the grounds with flower trails. A peony sure is a study in longevity.

cousins

Second cousins

A new generation of (second) cousins. Paul, Sara and Katherine. Circa 1998.

Mothers in Law

Mother Pepper (Gramma) and Mother Everitt (Grammy) with Jonathan in between. In the blue dress, laying on Gramma's lap, is Miss Beasley. Funny, now that I look at it, all three ladies had the same hairstyle.

At the Gap

The family cabin, Gap View, in the Poconos near Marshall's Creek, 1971. Notice the Life cereal on the counter behind me.

The Lore sisters

Back row left to right: Beulah and Ruth. Front row left to right: Rebecca and Sara (my Gramma).

Mom and me

Those glasses have made quite a comeback.

Christmas in Camillus

Circa 2007 The family gathered at my sister's house a few years back to celebrate the holidays.

Under the tree

On a recent Christmas, my mom reenacted a Christmas Eve many years ago when she received this Asian purse from my dad. She'd been hoping for an engagement ring, and tried to hide her disappointment. "Look in the bag," my dad suggested. When she did, she found a little box. That night, Dad asked Mom to marry him. She said yes.

Christmas Eve 1959

Dad had just proposed. They would be married the following June.

Dahlia king

Pop Pop Everitt was big into dahlias. Big ones. He even entered them in the county fair. Every fall, he'd dig them all up and put them away someplace safe for the winter. Here are some of them growing next to the Everitt house in Baptistown, N.J. I think those are hostas in front. Not sure whose apple tree that is in the background.

Pop Pop's garden

Here's a closer look at one of Pop Pop's beloved dahlias. They sure did put on a show.

Dad Doolittle

Dad shares a bite of lunch with a neighboring deer on a camping trip with Mom.

Mary and Sara

My grandmother Sara Lore Pepper (right) and her twin, Mary. I hear twins skip a generation. Haven't seen any more pairs in our family.

Dad and me

We planned a family work day for Dad's birthday a couple years ago. After a day of working on projects around the old homestead, Dad saw me off down the driveway as I headed for my car.

Will and Erma

Circa 1938. My dad with his mother share a quiet moment somewhere in their native New Jersey.