In 1956 my parents advertised in the Portland, Oregonian for a live-in baby sitter to help with their three children–my brother, then called Bobby, was 4, I was three and my sister, Sally, almost 1.  In those days, Portland was a world away.  Now it’s about a two and a half hour drive, and it probably wasn’t too much more than that back then, but we just didn’t take those kinds of drives!  And this is what Long Beach looked like!  Probably quite a shock for a city girl.

Anyway, the ad was answered, and Jayne, who was starting her sophomore year in high school, came to live with us.  Today we’d call her a nanny, but not back then.  Here she is, holding our cat, Fluffy Mayonnaise.

Jayne stayed with us for the next three years.  She was like a member of our family, even going to Disneyland with us!  She made a whopping $10.00 a week.  After high school graduation, she moved back to Portland  She visited once or twice when we got older, but then we completely lost track of her.  Surprise of surprise, she just came back to Long Beach for her 50th class reunion!  We had a great visit, and she brought some wonderful old photos with her.

Here we are in Disneyland.  Sally was too little to come–and still hasn’t quite gotten over the fact that she was left home.

Jayne still refers to my grandparents as “grandma” and “grandpa.”  Here’s my Grandpa Kennedy in his garden.

She had several photos of my cousin, Jim.

I think she may have had a crush on him!

Oops, Jim with a broken foot.

Jim holding my brother and me.

Jim and I share a love of horses, but here he’s giving my brother a ride.

Not only did he have a horse, he had a nice car, too!  Actually, I think it was the family car, and not just Jim’s.

This is Jim’s mom, my Aunt Evelyn.  See the car in the garage.  That’s my grandpa’s 1954 Dodge.  He gave it to me in 1970 and I still have it!

This is my favorite of all the photos.  It’s my Grandma and Grandpa Kennedy and all of their grandkids.  On the left is Jim, holding his dog, Dukey, then my cousin Cheryl and me.  On the right is my cousin Susan, my brother, Bobby (today known as Sid) and Sally, my sister, is on Grandpa’s lap.