The Mutz Family (Lincoln, NE, unknown date, probably late 1930s)

This picture fills in three important family members who I haven't had pictures of before: Elizabeth's maternal grandparents, and her uncle Ster. Now, finally, photos here have shown all of Elizabeth's and my 8 grandparents, and all 14 of our aunts and uncles. Shown below are Sterling Mutz and his wife Jessie Clarke Mutz in the front, and their daughter Jessica and son Ster in the back.

I never met either Sterling or Jessie Mutz, both had died before I met Elizabeth (and Elizabeth never met her grandmother). I did meet briefly Sterling's second wife, "Grammy Ginn". Ster we both knew well. He was an engineer with Cushman, the golf cart company, and I remember his helping me reconnect a lifter rod in the engine of our second car; we used baling wire. Amazingly, that engine repair held for the long remaining life of that car. Ster died young. He was a volunteer fireman, and was killed in a head-on collision, rushing to a fire. The person whose house burned down was racing out to get help, passed on a hill, and collided with Ster. Ster was married to Aunt Mary, who died two years ago.

Besides capturing all the missing family members, I really love this as a photo. Something about the composition, the poses and the way it is such a period piece strike me. I recommend clicking on it, and then clicking on the photo that comes up in the browser, to see the full version. The painting over the fireplace is of Jessica. It was done by a noted local artist, and she had that painting until she died.

Christmas at Jessica and Gordon's (NY, NY, Dec 1979)

We visited Jessica and Gordon in their apartment in Murray Hill.


My parents came with us.



Note the little upright piano (it was a Baldwin Spinet), before Gordon and Jessica gave it to us.





I guess this is when I scored the blue bathrobe I'm seen in elsewhere in this blog.

Christmas 1982 - Part 2 of 3 (Darien, CT, Dec 1982)

Christmas Dinner:





And the after-party (or maybe the before-party):

Christmas 1979 - Part 2 of 2 (Darien, CT, Dec 1979)

I'm just deducing from Davey's age and haircut that this first picture is Christmas 1979. Both our kids were a little leery of this Santa thing when he was in the flesh. And they hadn't even seen Bad Santa.



This has to be Dan. He would have been a little over 3 months old at Christmas, 1979, and that's when this tree is from.

Christmas 1978 - Part 3 of 3 (Teaneck, NJ, Dec 1978)

Note the similarity of the first picture to the baking picture from Christmas 1976. Different haircut, though. And a different TV.

Turkey before...

...turkey after. Paul, with his surgical experience, usually got saddled with the carving, which he was way better at than anyone else.

One more shot of the loot.




I posted this picture before (on Mother's Day), but this is where it came from. See that front door? You can see that there's a storm door with a glass panel behind it. Once, carrying Davey in the car seat in front of me on our way to the car, I walked right into that panel as if it weren't there, shattering glass violently in all directions. Good thing he was in a car seat. (Yes, some of us used car seats even then.)

Christmas 1976 - Part 2 of 2 (Teaneck, NJ, Dec 1976)

Jessica and Betty.


And Jessica's not-yet husband, Gordon, who I believe we met that day. I recall that we had given them very careful directions about how to get to our house by public transportation (it was just across the George Washington Bridge from Manhattan, where they lived). But they showed up in a hired car, and the driver lurked outside for the hours of their visit. We were duly impressed! (Elizabeth says Jessica was very embarrassed.)


With Sarah and Calico.

Jones Beach (Jones Beach State Park, NY, early 1950s)

At the same time that my family was driving across the Bronx to go to Orchard Beach, Elizabeth and her family were driving across Long Island to go to Jones Beach, another Robert Moses megaproject.

After we met, Elizabeth and I started going to the beach via subway a lot (first Brighton, then Rockaway). When we got a car, it was off to Jones Beach. We'd wake up really early, and try to get a coveted spot in parking field 9, with its very private beach (closed for the past 20 years due to beach erosion). With all that beachgoing in our backgrounds, I guess it's not surprising that we now live in a beach resort.

I've already included a picture of Elizabeth, Paul and their father at Jones Beach. Here are more pictures of Elizabeth and her family at Jones Beach.


This one shows the art deco buildings along the boardwalk. It looks about the same today, including that odd rectangular structure in front of it, and with the addition of some ugly blue awnings.




Wait a minute! What's this doing here. It's 36 years later.

Sarah The Cat (Teaneck, NJ, about 1977)

The pictures we have don't give a real impression of how big Sarah was. One lasting memory we have of her is that during our summer on a dairy farm in Tennessee (1971), she really couldn't go outside like the other cats could. That's because the swifts would see her, and immediately start dive-bombing her. She'd have to run for cover. We had no idea of what that was all about--they had no interest in the other 3 cats. Maybe they couldn't accept that one of the cows was ridiculously small.

(No doubt Paul took both these pictures.)

Elizabeth and Paul (Port Washington, NY, about 1950-53)

Paul learns to walk (and the world would never be the same):

Our Mothers (Teaneck, NJ, about 1978)

Susan Fisher, 1928-1998, and Jessica Good, 1918-2003. In our house in Teaneck, probably Christmas, 1978.

Elizabeth and Paul, with Their Parents (various locations, about 1949-56)

Elizabeth and Paul and their parents lived in two houses in Port Washington, NY, first on Davis Road, and then Richards Road. Below is a collection of pictures of Elizabeth and Paul with one or both of their parents. (Elizabeth supplied the locations.)

"At our house on Richards Road."


Unknown location.


Estes Park, Colorado, in the Rockies, where they vacationed with their parents (it was where their grandparents sometimes vacationed).


"Probably on our friends the Beggs' boat - they were the only people I can think of who took us out on a boat."


"Might be Watkins Glen, but I don't really have a reason for thinking that." (As children, Elizabeth and I both went to Watkins Glen several times with our families; it was between Syracuse and New York. We both remember it as a wonderful place.)


"I think the next is on Davis Road."


Jones Beach


"Davis Road, on the street."


"Davis Road, next to the garage."