Wow........you sure went thru alot at a young age, Ann. Do you have the first picture of you, still? :o) xoxo Patti (Part 2) My first visit was to Grandma Jobes (Minnie Leamer Mears Jobe born 1876 and died August 1972) in Weatherford, Texas on Christmas Day. I was just under a month old. This was also the first time that a picture was taken of me. For my first Christmas, I got a green-satin dress, two rattlers, and a bottle nipple. (according to my Baby Book). The first years of my life were really ones of struggles and endurance. If it had not been the Lord's will and the aid of an experienced paediatrician, I would not be here now to tell you my story. This was a time of much sickness for me. During this time I spent most of my time either in a doctor's office of a hospital. In the beginning I was slow about gaining weight and had a calcium deficiency. To add to this I got strip throat which settled in my kidneys, what the doctors called nephritis. During this time, I would have a raging, scorching temperature, which would turn into convulsions if something was not done fast. Finally, though I did get better and even learned how to walk all over. During my early life Mommy and Daddy were separated most of the time. I lived with my mother and grandparents, Benjamin and Edna Davis. (grandpa Davis died in Feb 1956 and Granny in April 1981) After being separated off and on for quite a while, they went back together. It was during this time, that my sister was born. There was only 11 1/2 months between us. She was born in Grand Prairie in Dallas County where my grandparents lived - during one of the separations. I couldn't say Marian so she quickly became known as Sissy. (to be continued tomorrow)