[S.D. Kelsey--home movies] Reel 8

OtherCan notes: "1954-1958 Virginia" "Lisa 1954, Waller's visit. Beechwood Lane Weatherington's visit, Beechwood Lane Lake Barcroft, sliding 1956-57 Through 1958"

Anecdotal Comments & ReflectionsREEL EIGHT 1954-1958 Lisa is seen at the tender age of two. She is just a toddler and the love of Mother's life. We have moved from Lake Worth, Florida to Sleepy Hollow, Fairfax County, Virginia where Daddy is stationed at the Pentagon. We lived in an old white clapboard farmhouse on Beechwood Lane. We were there one year and then moved to Lake Barcroft, Virginia, another suburb of the the DC metro area. Stevie was eleven and attended Saint Anthony's School; I was nine and attended Saint Anthony's for one year and then transferred to Bailey Cross Roads Elementary. We were both school patrols. Stevie was also an altar boy. The whole Waller family came to visit in 1954. Seen is Uncle Bill, Aunt Marj's husband, pushing the swing for the nieces and nephews. Uncle Bill died of a heart attack due to high blood pressure while he was throwing the ball in the last frame of a perfect bowling score competition many years later. Aunt Marj and Uncle Bill had an excellent marriage and family. The three boys, Jack, Bob and Steve were extremely competitive with each other. They had settled in Cheshire, Connecticut and still live in that area. The Wetherington's also paid us a visit. Daddy's sister, Aunt Katherine, and her husband, Uncle Duke had seven children and the oldest, Jimmy was a close friend of mine. He became a Ph.D. And works for the government. He was displaced by Hurricane Katrina (August 23, 2005); first he went to Texas and then to Richmond, Virginia where the majority of the Wetherington children now reside. Uncle Duke died of tuberculosis in 1962 and Aunt Katherine went back to college and then worked for the Government as a Civil Servant, working mostly overseas. Her youngest son, Tim, grew up in Italy and spoke the language fluently. All the children did extremely well, with education as a top priority. Stevie, Jimmy and I are seen with bow and arrow. Lisa is the second cowgirl to come from the family (following me) and she is seen on a rocking horse. There is a photo of Grandma and Grandpa Fee in the background. Also seen are the love seats which have been reupholstered. Lisa and I are dancing and singing. Jumping on the bed is Lisa. For the first time Pierre is introduced into the film and our lives. I am seen with him in a stroller. He is a puppy; he lived with us and moved with us for 20 more years, dying in Indialantic, Florida. Never was there a more faithful or dignified pet. The scene jumps to Lisa getting ready for bed and Mother teaching her to say her Catholic prayers. Lisa's pet stuffed animal, Tiger Lilly, is seen in the background. Tiger Lilly was named for a fantasy figure in Peter Pan and over the years became bald, as it was so cherished. There is a great deal of love seen in this clip. In the winter of 1956-57 we moved to Lake Barcroft, a new sub-division of Arlington. Pierre Salinger, John F. Kennedy's press secretary, lived there also. The house is brand new and it was a grand house in comparison to the ones we had lived in before. Daddy was a Command Pilot and Full Colonel and had top-security clearance for his work at the Pentagon. He would take me there on Saturday mornings to jump on the trampoline at the gym which was located in the basement level of the government building. We are, then, seen sledding. Lisa was in Fairfax Public Schools as a kindergarten student. She took a cab to school. She is five years old. The last scene is of the children ice skating on Lake Barcroft. It was our last winter together.