COUSINS – Judy and Larry

The above photo was taken in Oakland, California in September, 1940.  On the left is my oldest brother, Larry, and our cousin, Judy.  Larry was just past three years and Judy was about 15 months.  Note the vitnage cars parked at the curb behind them.  I think that could be my parents’ brand new 1940 Chevy.

Judy’s mother, Marguerite, was my mother’s older sister, and I did not really get to know Judy well until I was in my 30’s as there was more than a ten year age gap between us.  Both being only daughters (and in her case an only child), we got to know each other well in the early 1980’s and became more like sisters than cousins as well as great friends.  Larry passed away in 1988 at the age of 51 from a rare form of cancer, probably caused by radiation treatment he was given as a baby to save his life in 1937.  Judy passed away in 2005 at the age of 66 from pulmonary fibrosis.  Both gone too soon.

I was reminded this week about a trip to the Napa Valley in 1985 by a friend who is here visiting from Ireland.  Judy had just married a second time and we all had dinner in the restaurant at Domaine Chandon.  Lovely memories.

Photo below is also Larry and Judy taken several months earlier in Taft, California.  You can see Judy’s infectious smile and happy personality in this photo!