When I was in kindergarten, an orange-and-white striped tabby cat showed up in our yard. She sat on the porch with me after school and showed no inclination to leave. I patted her, and she just hung out. My mom told me not to give the cat water or food because then she wouldn’t leave.ContinueContinue reading “When Taffy Cat Adopted Us”
Category Archives: LaSenius Family
Remembering My Cousin Sandra
With the Christmas season approaching, I remember my cousin, Sandra Kay Jackson Miller Comisky Dugan. She always made our family Christmas celebrations memorable with her tins of homemade sweets. These treats were creative and delicious. Imagine miniature stained-glass windows made of chocolate and marshmallows, and that was just one of the variety of sweets sheContinueContinue reading “Remembering My Cousin Sandra”
Future Generations Will Treasure Your Words
You may feel called to record your life story for future generations. But you might wonder sometimes whether anyone will want to read that story. I have struggled with those same thoughts. On the flip side, as someone who is researching my family’s history, I can assure you there will be family members in futureContinueContinue reading “Future Generations Will Treasure Your Words”
The Little Library that Stopped by Every Saturday
On Saturday mornings in kindergarten, I kept a close watch out the window toward the park across the street. A little mobile trailer would roll in, and I’d run to get my mom. The traveling library was here! Evening reading time! Pictured here with my dad, Bill Gillis. Photo by my mom, Joy Gillis EvenContinueContinue reading “The Little Library that Stopped by Every Saturday”
From Click to Crinkle: My 1970s School Lunch Memories
Most elementary school kids of the 1970s would recognize the click of a metal lunchbox opening. Back then, we had two choices: eat a cafeteria-cooked meal or bring a lunch from home. For those of us who mostly brought our own lunch, the choice of lunchbox for the new school year was a big deal.ContinueContinue reading “From Click to Crinkle: My 1970s School Lunch Memories”
How My Mom and Dad Met
I always enjoyed hearing how my mom, Joy Washburn Gillis, met my dad, William Gillis, Jr. My mom’s first encounter with my dad actually happened when she was two years old. They lived on the same street in Little River, in Miami, Florida. She would stand at the window and watch this 13-year-old boy walkContinueContinue reading “How My Mom and Dad Met”
My First Trip Overseas
Traveling Family Growing up, I traveled a lot. My family was very willing to hit the road, visit, explore. And because my dad worked for Eastern Airlines, we got to fly for free anywhere in the United States. We flew to see my sister when she lived in various locations. We also visited family byContinueContinue reading “My First Trip Overseas”
A Pilot at Heart
I enjoy writing about family photos. I do this partly to remember and partly to share with future generations. If you’re writing a family history book or blog, writing about family photos can be a helpful way to piece your story together. You might use those photos and stories in your book. Or they mightContinueContinue reading “A Pilot at Heart”
Big Screens and Bigger Memories: My 1970s Movie Adventures
When I was young, my grownup cousin, Sandra, tried to describe what a movie theater was like. She said a bunch of people could sit in rows, all facing the same direction, and somehow everyone could watch a movie on a giant screen. How could they see over each other’s heads? I couldn’t picture it.ContinueContinue reading “Big Screens and Bigger Memories: My 1970s Movie Adventures”
Frozen Pillows and Porch Ice Cream: Summer Evenings with Mom, Dad, and Taffy Cat
Summer evenings in Miami were hot and muggy throughout my childhood in the 1970s. The hotels along the beach blocked the ocean breeze. The inland neighborhoods wilted in a steamer. But we had a beautiful evening rhythm in our home, buoyed by the sweet scent of the jasmine hedges that wandered through our neighborhood ofContinueContinue reading “Frozen Pillows and Porch Ice Cream: Summer Evenings with Mom, Dad, and Taffy Cat”
Exploring Generations 