[S.D. Kelsey--home movies] Reel 7

OtherCan notes: "1) Easter Sunday Alabama House at Fairview 1952 2) Picnic with Willis' 3) Lisa first pictures - [?]Maxwell 4) Xmas 1952 5) Summer 1954 - Civilian [?] 6) air show Alexandria 7) Mount Vernon (birds) 8) Florida Xmas 1954 9) Steely children +ours Tahoe

Anecdotal Comments & ReflectionsREEL SEVEN 1952-1954 LISA MAKES HER DEBUT It is Easter, 1952. We are having an egg hunt at our home in downtown Fairview, Alabama. My clearest memories stem from this house. I went to a kindergarten that was located walking distance from the house; through a college campus with oak trees and flying squirrels that lived in the trees. My mother would walk me to school and we would see squirrels flying through the air or see them on the ground, dead, where they had misjudged the flight. The school had a swing set and I remember Mother and I swinging on the swings together, wearing identical purple floral dresses. We were both very happy. I was expelled from this school for not getting along with the boys. Daddy's abuse had begun. Then, I went across the street from the house to a public school and Daddy and Joe, our first pet, a medium size black puppy, would walk me across the street. One day, Joe ran out into the street, right in front of us, and was hit by a car and died. Daddy, Stevie and I buried him in a farmer's field out in the country. We were all devastated. Our next door neighbor had a beautiful flower garden and during the Spring I cut off the heads of all his flowers. He became so sad that he cried. On the pathway between our neighbor and us there was an arbor and a large spider had decided to make it his home. He built a gigantic web and we fed him each night. It was a ritual. Stevie got his first scar at this house from a bow and arrow he was shooting. Then, we moved to base housing. The next scene is one of a wooded mountain pathway which we are hiking with Daddy's friend, Mr. Willis. Then, we see Mother who is expecting Lisa Bart Kelsey (Enstrom). She was born in Montgomery, Alabama on August 22, 1952. Mother has never looked so beautiful. She flowered at Maxwell Air Force Base and taught etiquette and modeling classes to the officer's wives and received a certificate of praise for her leadership qualities. She is such a proud, expectant mother and so radiant. Lisa is officially presented to the world. What a beautiful baby. In the next scene Mother is seen with her maid, Jennymae, who is dressed in a white uniform. Jennymae was an integral part of our life in Alabama and was missed when she resigned. Lisa's baptism in September of 1952 at Maxwell Air Force Base Chapel. How beautiful is the infant Lisa and how shining is Mother. Lisa was blessed with many gifts when she was born; she developed great beauty, intellect and creativity and she was the only member of the family who could sing or carry a note. She looks just like a Tracy, Marguerite's legacy. Christmas, 1952; one can see how primitive electronics were back in the day as Stevie is playing with a “remote-control” tank and soldiers and I have a doll, a toy I never took to. Lisa is seen in a playchair with Christmas gifts and you can see how curious and aware she is, even at that young age. The reel now shifts to an air show in Alexandria, Virginia. Actually, the show is at Mount Vernon, which is located right next to Alexandria. Chris Orestis, son of Marianne Kelsey Orestis, lived in Alexandria for several years and two of his sons, Christos and Max were born there. We are now living in Lake Worth, Florida and at a 1954 Christmas gathering of the Kelsey clan; Daddy's' father, Kels and his second wife, Irene, join us and are seen for the first time. Kels was a tailor and veterinarian and had served with US Calvary in that position during the Spanish American War and World War I. His full name was Dr. Harry Ray Kelsey. His first wife Novella Bart Downing Kelsey was a genteel Virginian and family historian who was a Southern Baptist and who raised her three children with grace and a loving manner in contrast to Kels' firm, if not hard hand and discipline. She died of cancer in 1942. Daddy was serving in Europe at that time and was not notified of her death until months later; a fault of the Red Cross and a fault for which Daddy never forgave them. Irene, Kels second wife, was also a genteel Virginian who lovingly smoothed out the rough patches in Kels' personality and gave us all a place in her large and warm heart. She was eight years older than Daddy and they got along famously. During that Christmas of 1954, we went for the last time to Motel Tahoe, a tradition that had lasted throughout the Korean War. The children pictured are the Steely children; their father was a closefriend of Daddy's and Mother's and was a Colonel and hard disciplinarian.