I stumbled across this album this morning. It was my grandmother's. I don't think I had ever seen it before. I'm pretty sure I hadn't... wonderful pictures of their newly married life! I apologize for the poor quality... my not knowing how to use the scanner is partly to blame, but the pictures are set so securely into the black leather album that I did not want to mess with them.
Below my grandmother, Bettina and my grandfather Larry, on their wedding day in Cannes. The grand room, pictured below, served as both living and dining room. It was completely exposed on two sides. The glass doors slid fully open into the walls in the summer time so that one felt as though they were truly outdoors. The room was all black and white and naturally, as stunning as my grandmother was!
Bettina was not my grandmother's given name. She didn't like the one her parents gave her, Betty Jane, too old fashioned. Her name was legally changed. Everyone called her Bettina. Even her grandchildren. She was simply not a "grandma" or a grandmother in the typical sense. So true. I grew up calling my grandparents by their names Bettina and Larry. His was a nickname too.
And my relationships with Bettina and Larry were very special ones indeed!
Below, they sign their marriage document. In the background are Charles and his wife Lillianne who worked for them as Housekeeper and Chauffeur, serving as witnesses here.
I have no words for this!!! I absolutely adore this photo! Look at her dress!
Below are Charles and his wife Lillianne. I have fond memories of them both, especially Charles who offered me my first cigarette when I was 3 or 4!!! Can you imagine?! He told my grandmother that he had done so and her reaction? "What did she think of it?" She asked jokingly. "She hated it. She coughed and coughed and coughed!" He told them. Then went on to explain that was the reason he had offered me the cigarette in the first place. He had hoped I would never want to try it again!
I love how my grandfather looks at my grandmother so adoringly here. He did until the end. They were soul mates through and through. Ever so rare to see a love like theirs... She succumbed to Leukemia here in the States when she was a mere 83 years old. Fit as a fiddle, a tennis player well into his early 90s, he died 6 months later of, I'm positive, a broken heart.
A terrible photo, but I love the phone in his hand... I'm pretty sure Pottery Barn had a replica a couple of years ago.
Another photo... what a classic, timeless, stunning beauty she was. Like me she was a writer... notes, plans, recipes and stories. No doubt she would have been a blogger too!
Click on the below photo to get a better view... seriously she was a siren... a parapalegic siren to boot!
N'est-ce pas?
A strapping Holywood executive with their child, Ballyhoo, a Kerry Blue Terrier who was to be my best friend for nearly 13 years!
Below, taken after a visit to New York City... my mother at the table with her wine (sound familiar?) and a filterless Gauloise...
immediately after my birth!
My grandmother, in her early 80s looking fondly at her dessert!
Below my grandmother, Bettina and my grandfather Larry, on their wedding day in Cannes. The grand room, pictured below, served as both living and dining room. It was completely exposed on two sides. The glass doors slid fully open into the walls in the summer time so that one felt as though they were truly outdoors. The room was all black and white and naturally, as stunning as my grandmother was!
Bettina was not my grandmother's given name. She didn't like the one her parents gave her, Betty Jane, too old fashioned. Her name was legally changed. Everyone called her Bettina. Even her grandchildren. She was simply not a "grandma" or a grandmother in the typical sense. So true. I grew up calling my grandparents by their names Bettina and Larry. His was a nickname too.
And my relationships with Bettina and Larry were very special ones indeed!
Below, they sign their marriage document. In the background are Charles and his wife Lillianne who worked for them as Housekeeper and Chauffeur, serving as witnesses here.
I have no words for this!!! I absolutely adore this photo! Look at her dress!
Below are Charles and his wife Lillianne. I have fond memories of them both, especially Charles who offered me my first cigarette when I was 3 or 4!!! Can you imagine?! He told my grandmother that he had done so and her reaction? "What did she think of it?" She asked jokingly. "She hated it. She coughed and coughed and coughed!" He told them. Then went on to explain that was the reason he had offered me the cigarette in the first place. He had hoped I would never want to try it again!
I love how my grandfather looks at my grandmother so adoringly here. He did until the end. They were soul mates through and through. Ever so rare to see a love like theirs... She succumbed to Leukemia here in the States when she was a mere 83 years old. Fit as a fiddle, a tennis player well into his early 90s, he died 6 months later of, I'm positive, a broken heart.
A terrible photo, but I love the phone in his hand... I'm pretty sure Pottery Barn had a replica a couple of years ago.
Another photo... what a classic, timeless, stunning beauty she was. Like me she was a writer... notes, plans, recipes and stories. No doubt she would have been a blogger too!
Click on the below photo to get a better view... seriously she was a siren... a parapalegic siren to boot!
N'est-ce pas?
A strapping Holywood executive with their child, Ballyhoo, a Kerry Blue Terrier who was to be my best friend for nearly 13 years!
Below, taken after a visit to New York City... my mother at the table with her wine (sound familiar?) and a filterless Gauloise...
immediately after my birth!
My grandmother, in her early 80s looking fondly at her dessert!