Arlena and Family Circa 1947

 "Circa" means "around."  It's what you say when you don't know exactly, but you can take a pretty good guess.  Everyone in this photo is dead.  My mom is Louise in the middle.  She died in 2008.  Allyn the younger boy to her right died in 2011.  Benoni Junior to her left died last year.  My mom was born in 1937 and I'm guessing she's about 10 here.  Arlena was born in 1905 making her 32 years older than my mom, and 12 years older than my mom's mom Vivian, who was 19 when she had my mom.  I can see why Arlena would have been a fascinating figure in my mother's life.  She was older than her mother with a broader range of experiences and interests.  My mother's natural tendencies toward literacy and the arts were nourished by Arlena's presence in her life.  Arlena was my mother's father's sister.  She died in 1992.

Here are is the back of this photograph.  It's my mom's handwriting.