A girl of adventure and fun, Lenora was often doing what girls should not be doing. She’d been caught climbing trees, smoking and drinking alcohol since her early teens. She was the “wild one” of the pack of children in her family.

Her mother longed for her to be a “normal girl,” but Lenora preferred pants to dresses and smoking to sipping tea. She fought hard against society’s notion of what kind of woman she should be. She begged her parents to let her go to college where she earned a degree in literature.

On the day this photo was taken she was at the lake house with her family. Her father had long given up the idea of getting a proper picture of her sitting on a bench in a park in long, ankle-covering skirt. Instead, her father lovingly said, “Let me take your picture L, you are beautiful!”

Lenora quickly jumped up, climbed up the tree and posed. She was never so comfortable as she was in her skin that day.

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes and co-founder of SupportforSpecialNeeds.com

On the day this photo was taken Vanessa’s mother had to get out of the house. It had been an unusually bad day. She’d spent the week in turmoil neglecting her children while caring for her ailing mother. She’d decided to take Nessy for a treat because it seemed when she was busy Nessy suffered most.

Caring for her mother while simultaneously raising her children, without the proper help of a nanny, was exhausting. Her husband’s business was not as profitable as it was back in the day and so she was forced to care for the house and the children by herself. With her mother now ill, there were no generational safety nets.

Each day brought new challenges yet on this day it all came into focus when she fought mightily with her husband. She walked out of the house in a huff with little Nessy on her right hip. She and Nessy walked for the 10 blocks and played games and talked and sauntered their way to the ice cream shop, where their favorite ice cream was sold in little cones.

Normally Nessy’s mother was uncomfortable with the children eating ice cream because of the mess it made but not this day. This day she’d realized how much she missed the undivided attention she’d been able to spend with the children and especially her youngest that she threw all caution (of clean clothing) to the wind.

They giggled together on the bench next to the ice cream shop about the drips of ice cream on little Nessy’s white dress and the unusually bad day turned around.

Nickle cones in 1935 and chocolate if you must know.

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes

Kathryn “Kate” Dooley, or Katie Doodle Bug as her Father used to call her, was young when she moved from Ballina, Ireland to Pennsylvania with her family. Ballina was first recorded a settlement around 1375 when a monastery was founded. Kate’s parents grew up there and saw many changes over the years.

Kate’s parents wanted a new life for their family so when they had the chance to sell what little land and possessions they had, they did. The promise of the United States of America called them in 1858 and so, with a small trunk for each family member and a large one for family heirlooms Kate made the journey with her parents and three sisters.

Kate was 6 when the family immigrated to America so she doesn’t remember much, but she did remember the ship they came over on and how all of them slept in one small room.  She remembers the small apartment they spent a good amount of her childhood in, as it was where birth of the 3 siblings; a boy and 2 more girls, took place. Katie Doodle Bug fell right in the middle of the large family and the nickname was at first thought to be because she was the youngest, but her father kept it up to make her feel special because she was in the middle.

They were a hard working family and saved enough to buy a small home. Her father worked for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western railroad as a track laborer – back-breaking work he would have you know – while he saved for their new home. As soon as she and each of her sisters were old enough, at the ripe old age of 12, they worked in a Wilkes-Barre silk mill. Their mother did laundry for people for coins and that money feed the family for years.

Kate married James Brennan, a textile salesman she met at a local dance in her twenties. Before then her parents thought she would never get married, so they were quite pleased when James asked for her hand in marriage. They were even willing to put aside their disappointment at her marrying someone who wasn’t Irish because as far as they were concerned she could find someone in their small community of Irish-American people. But Kate and James were in love so her parents said, “At least there is that.”

Kate and James did not live far from her parents and most of her family. It was extremely helpful to have her parents near when raising her three children. Lawrence, Francis and Julia. Lawrence and Frances came to the family in the traditional way but Julia arrived unconventionally.

Kate and James had befriended Julia, a young woman who had fallen pregnant and was blissfully happy in her marriage. The young mother died after child birth from what was likely an infection and the father, grief stricken and unable to function and raise a baby on his own, asked Kate and James to raise her. He’d wanted Baby Julia to know her first mother and father through personal stories that Kate and James could tell. Kate and her family welcomed Baby Julia in their family as the unexpected surprise she was; and they cherished her. Years later Julia’s first father would come to meet her and find a healthy, vibrant, young woman who knew all about him and his beloved. Her namesake, his wife.

Just as the light moved through the window and hit Kate’s face a photographer took this picture. Julia had paid for the photographer to come to the house on Kate’s 80th birthday. Julia treasured this photo and it was passed to her eldest daughter. She told the story of how Nana became her mother. She smiled when she told about how she watched Kate embrace her first father on the very day this photo was taken. He, who’d been welcomed to the celebration of Kate’s well-loved life, and how she saw her mother crying and overheard her tell him “Thank you for letting us raise your daughter.”

Inspired by Charlie O’Hay, who provided “facts” about our Katie Doodle Bug, except for that nickname. Charlie blogs here.

Sweet Corinna on her 5th birthday.

Enjoying her new shiny dog.

A gift from her uncle Jim, who was her biggest fan.

A happy-go-lucky girl that played a lot.

In the sun.

But still her mother made her wear a jacket and hat.

Which is why in her 20s she refused to wear a coat, even on chilly nights.

Preferring a shawl.

When she was little she played a lot.

Skating. Playing. And once a carousel, which she loved.

School. Dances. Best friends.

Wickedly smart.

In the same city as Uncle Jim she attended college.

New York City.

She became working girl.

In the big city she stayed.

Near her Uncle Jim.

Who always watched over her.

Written by Julia Roberts

Kidneys and Eyes, personal blog

Support for Special Needs, networking site

Proud Wesleyan Female College women alumni Esther and Molly.

Sisters in life and in college, Esther and Molly were always close. Wesleyan Female College in Macon, Georgia Class of 1898 they were quite the renegade pair. They were afforded the luxury of coming from a family of wealth and they’d made there way to college from rural Georgia to the then, “Big City” of Macon, Georgia.

They both had proper manners and thick southern accents. They were both women with a keen sense of humor and soon after arrival at Wesleyan, chemistry and astronomy took hold of their imaginations and they studied hard. At the top of their class for their chosen fields they were popular throughout the college and leaders with the incoming classes mentoring other young women scholars.

Esther was science smart and had been since she was young. Always showing an interest in all thing science, her father especially pushed her to follow the path of education. Molly showed an interest in the universe beyond. Her parents thought she was a foolish dreamer but they’d allowed it at the urging of Esther. Their parents were unusual that they wanted their daughters to follow the education route to their happiness instead of the expected marriage and family. If marriage and children came, they said, so be it.

Incidentally Molly did end up having a family but not before she opened up her own small planetarium in the really Big City. Here parents had financed the operation. They’d considered it a whim of hers never realizing that it would teach children around the really Big City about the universe beyond. Molly had become a teacher to many and her parents couldn’t be more surprised that their little investment had paid off and had become the region’s pride, interesting college universities and primary schools for it’s teachings.

Esther became a chemist, working in pharmacology research and development. She was at the top of her field for years, developing drugs to help children and adults live better lives. In some cases, when she was really lucky, she was involved in developing drugs that saved lives. She loved her job and her life and she was a woman to be reckoned with in the corporate arena of big pharma. She was responsible for creating a friendly workplace for women; demanding the same “luxuries” afforded men like equal pay and a non-hostile workplace. She could not and would not be ignored by the higher ups and she made life for the women behind her easier.

When Esther and Molly met up on the day this picture was taken at an alumni visit and college celebration they didn’t attend so they could see each other – they played bridge weekly and had coffee numerous times a month over pastries at a local sweet shop now that they were retired. They thought it would be fun to see their old college and the young women of this day.

To look at them with their roller-styled hair and their sensible shoes and their best hats you would never know that they helped pave the way for young career women in the 1900s throughout the southeast. Esther and Molly had visited Wesleyan College without knowing they were being honored for the perseverance for the rights of all women.

Esther and Molly left the ceremony that day and reminisced about their days at Wesleyan. They laughed. Then they drank a lot of coffee and played a quick game a bridge.

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes

Helen was a working woman. A woman of means to get things done.

Her hair sat comfortably in a messy braid at the NAPE of her neck, as it did every single day.

She was a woman who wore shoes that let her get things done.

Her legs were incredibly shapely, thanks to the long days she spent standing and working.

HER ARMS STRONG with muscles stronger than young men.

Helen was a woman of simple means with a spirited personality.

Helen HAULED rain water she collected to feed the small garden through the back yard.

She often used run off from her sink or rain to water the garden. Because she was RESOURCEFUL.

The garden provided something nearly each day of the year for the family.

Some days it was fresh, other days it was canned. Each day delicious and NOURISHING.

Helen admittedly let the back yard “GO TO THE DOGS” as the neighbors would say.

She thought to herself, “This is something I know.”

TO OUTSIDERS her life seemed hard, hard.

Helen considered her life full and meaningful.

She was WELL-LOVED.

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes

Amelia was just 5 when she got these skates. The second she put them on she felt good and since they had a little key that would allow her to lengthen them as she grew, she had this particular pair until she was eight.

A year after this photo she had to have her father repair one of the wheels and he was not happy about it. Having just returned home from work and wanting his scotch and time to read the paper, he’d brushed her off to their yard man. Martin, who had the tools and the time and more importantly had the desire to fix it for her so she could skate again.

Amelia was quite proficient on them as you can see by the stance she is taking. None of her friends was as good as she was and she took great pleasure in this fact, although she’d been taught it would be rude to show that outwardly. She would glide past her friends who were slower and wobbly and she would say, with a smirk on this inside, “You can do it! Just do this! And this!”

One day distracted by her friends and the sun, she tumbled on a crack in the sidewalk that was lined with upper middle class houses. She saw blood and she screamed and cried. She couldn’t move her leg and her heart was beating so fast she could not catch her breath through her cries. Her hands were dirty and each time she wiped her tears the dirt would move comfortably from her hands to her face.

Martin, who was tending to the yard when he first heard muffled screams, rose his head from the hedge trimmers and stopped cutting. He listen again, realizing it was Amelia he took off towards the noise. By now Amelia’s friends had joined in the chorus of pleas for help and there was no mistaking where they had landed. Running towards the corner to fetch her and bring her home his heart raced, too.

When he reached her he realized that her skin revealed a bone but Amelia was in shock and this was not something she had realized. Martin picked her up gently but swiftly and took her home to her mother. They were able to get her to the hospital where doctors would perform miracles over weeks instead of letting the knee heal that way, making it impossible for her to walk properly or ever skate again.

Luckily Amelia’s mother felt fine about taking her to the hospital that day and during the subsequent days she was there, because she didn’t feel okay about it for a time not so long ago. She thought to herself, “Thank God we have health insurance.”

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes

It is 1922. It is Summer.

And they are at a lake in Wisconsin. There are a lot of lakes in Wisconsin.

They are best friends. And have been since they were pigtailed girls.

Sarah on the left. Mary Elizabeth on the right.

Just out of high school and moving on to college. Both of them.

Three parents not pleased. One supportive and happy.

One a teacher, one a writer. They would become.

A young man took this picture. On the boat going nowhere.

Sarah mildly amused. Mary E. preparing a snack.

Bread and cheese. They would share with the young man.

Who one would marry years later. After college and careers were started.

One set off to see the world. One raised babies that would set off to see the world.

Because they had an “Aunt.” Who lived everywhere.

Traveling girl would return to her friend. And they would pick up where they left off.

Reminiscing about the days on the lake in Wisconsin. They laughed.

They shared the world stories. As if they were both traveling.

One never feeling tied down. And one feeling she had roots.

They gave each other the best. Of each life they had.

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes

Meet Cora, the matriarch of a farming family in the late 1800s. Husband-less, due to her husband’s unfortunate choice to drink liquor and hunt – at the same time – Cora became the rock of her family. Left to care for three children, one of whom had a child and her sister-in-law, Louisa. Louisa, also husband-less, proper and intelligent, was a local teacher for kids age 5 through age 13.

Seeing as how Louisa wasn’t married, she was the responsibility of her brother, a poor shot when he drank, so the responsibility fell to Cora. Cora didn’t mind having Louisa around as she was helpful, taught the children how to read and write and that was more than she knew how to do to any great degree. Cora could barely read and write at a 3rd grade level, but she was a smart woman who navigated farming just fine when her husband, a poor shot when he drank, went dying on her.

Cora’s children, a daughter, Mabel, with a daughter, Alma and Cora’s two sons, Hubert and Willard all at some point in their lives or all their lives worked on the family farm. Small in comparison to the farms around their land, they only had 5 acres but the land was profitable enough to support the family with a modest income.

Mabel, whose husband was in the Army, had been sent to fight a “little Spanish war” and she’d been left to raise Alma on her own. Mabel and Alma lived in a small shack on the land and they spent much of their time at Cora’s house.

Hubert and Willard were done with school thank goodness and could help plant and harvest so Cora wasn’t forced to hire wanderers off the train that ran right through their property. Hubert, “the slow one,” as people used to say, was a happy and willing fellow. Willard, the middle of the three, was a hard worker but easily distracted.

When Willard wasn’t helping on the farm, which was all or part of 7 days a week, he could be found calling on a local girl he was sweet on named Miriam. Miriam was also sweet on Willard but they would wait years before they held hands or kissed, married and went on to have a house full of children.

Mabel’s husband returned from the war after two years and he and Mabel had fallen ill with yellow fever. Both died when Alma was just six. Cora raised Alma with the help of  Louisa. During Alma’s 16th year when she was independent Louisa would move a day’s trip away to teach at a school. Cora missed Louisa’s presence more than she cared to admit as Louisa had become a confidant and friend.

Hubert never married but his niece Alma, having seen the example of how Cora cared for family members, would carry on the tradition. She would keep Uncle Hubert in her home, giving him a blessed quality life for over 40 years; a place to belong.

Over the years in the family home Alma raised 6 children. Four born out of her body but all she called her own. Three of her brood spent their lives on the farm raising babies and taking care of Alma. Alma had appropriately passed the torch of matriarch to another willing and able woman in the long line of generationally strong women.

Since Cora’s husband, a poor shot when he drank, had died, the women in the family took charge and would be in charge for generations to come.

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes

Aletha would spend her life traveling with a performance group, otherwise known as her family. Her big, thunderously loud family. Her heavy European accent came through heavily and about her every 5th word was understandable English.

She’d been born to a (thunderously loud) traveling family. The family had never put roots down anywhere and so Aletha didn’t know any different. She was by all accounts a sad girl who did what she was told; sometimes it was performing and sometimes it was working the crowd and sometimes it would be both.

Her family brought all of their possessions with them including performance needs like tents, stage, costumes and souvenirs to sell. Aletha had been allowed one small suitcase of personal items. It held a few special books, a mirror, hairbrush, a change of clothes and two pieces of artisan jewelry.

The jewelry had been given to her by her father. She treasured the pieces that she’d been told came from at least 3 generations back. She had wondered many times as she tried on the pieces – a necklace and bracelet, not matching – what relative wore them years ago. She used her little hand mirror to see how they looked and each time she imagined she lived somewhere else except nowhere.

She imagined that in another time she was a girl with a stable family with roots.

A home not on wheels and a kitchen with a fire not on the ground. She wished for more possessions and a wardrobe chest in which to keep them. She longed to have a friend her age with interests outside her own. Oh, the number of times she wished for a friend her age to talk to about books and boys and anything but where their next performance was and how many nights they would stay.

Then one day she overheard her mother talking about her childhood and it sounded very much like her own. She never truly connected her and her mother’s experience before that day. She learned her mother had the same desire for stability for a time but later in life she realized that the world was her home. The gift that each town gave her was acceptance and a new beginning.

Aletha learned her mother, at each performance, played any person she wanted to be and eventually she settled on the woman she became. A loving, caring, vivacious, wife and mother who was also an artist and performer with a sense of humor. She had a passion for learning about other people and about the world. Her mother provided Aletha a great gift.

The world was her home and provided her roots.

Written by Julia Roberts, Kidneys and Eyes