Cherish is my favorite word, and I cherish the ability of turning the routine into a beautiful moment.
Nature creates in me, a spiritual and meditative time to bring peace, harmony and balance, into an otherwise ordinary day~
Mary Howell Cromer







Sunday, December 18, 2011

Do Camels Count...It's My Birthday Week~

~ Have a Very Blessed Christmas ~ 

Mine is a wildlife/nature blog, but for this special week, I felt a  desire to claim it as my own and share a little bit about from whence I come...I did include camels in front of the Sphinx, and that will have to count for the day.

I never knew my father Howie, yet he has always been a part of me.  He and his wife Eva raised my father after his mother passed away at age 4.  Father Howie and Mother Howie was what my father affectionately called them~

Dr. Joseph Morton Howell, would become this nation's first US Ambassador to Egypt under President Warren G. Harding's administration from 1923-1927~

He authored the book "Egypt's Past, Present and Future", which became controversial at the time, more accepted today~

Father Howie was one of the first American diplomats to enter King Tutankhamen tomb.  Below is on the first of 3 such visits that he made~




My father was Robert Breslin Howell, and he stands to the left of his grandparents.  His Aunt Lorena and her two children are also in the photograph above~



Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Howell and my father, when a young boy~

Father Howie on far left visiting the Sphinx~

My father's beloved mother, passed away at such a young age, leaving behind my father at age 4. 
* You may want to check out my SkyWatch Friday entry for December 7, 2011.  I shared in it about Waverly Hills Sanatorium where Mrs. Howell and thousands more died during the TB epidemic~



In later years, my father performed in stage plays in California.  That is him standing behind the lady seated center left.  He was also the voice of Mo and Noah, much like the characters in the skits of Amos and Andy on Radio Manila, among other stations at the time~


My twin sister Haze walking with my father and me with our mother in Oakland, California, where we were born~

I was the one with momma and always the one with the ready giggles, while my sister was more shy.  We moved from Oakland, California to Portland, Oregon.  When we were 5, our family moved to Kentucky...back to where my father's mother had passed away, all of those many years before...home again~



Momma~

My parents Robert and Ginny~

Bill and I dated off and on for 6 years where we grew up in St. Matthews, Kentucky.  We were married after he returned from Viet Nam on December 22, 1969

While Bill served in the Army, I went to work as a flight attendant for Braniff International Airlines out of Dallas, Texas~



We will celebrate Bill's birthday on 18 th, my birthday on the 21 st, our anniversary on the 22 nd and Christmas on the 25 th...all tucked into one week~

Be sure to visit Little Red House for more Mosaic Monday entries from around the world!

17 comments:

  1. you and bill make such a good-looking couple! happy birthday to both of you! and anniversary too!

    is your twin sister still nearby?

    your father had such an early loss with his mother passing, but such experiences in his upbringing, being raised by his grandfather.

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  2. When is your birthday Mary? Beautiful photos.

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  3. What fun to see all these photos! And you have such a busy week ahead. Happy birthday! Happy anniversary! Merry Christmas!

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  4. Beautiful family photos and you and your hubby make a lovely couple. I hope you have a wonderful birthday and Anniversary. I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas too.

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  5. What a wonderful family story and background there Mary. You are obviously justifiably proud of both your past and present family. I loved looking at those old photos, especially Howie as you call him. Enjoy your special week and Happy Christmas.

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  6. That was a very entertaining post. How lucky you are to have such photos. Happy week long celebrations to you and your family. We may have a dusting of snow for Christmas. Blessings
    QMM

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  7. I enjoyed your post of your family. Merry Christmas. V

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  8. Wow Mary, You really have some precious photos of your family. What an interesting history. Enjoy your huge celebration week! Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary and Merry Christmas...

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  9. Mary, your family history is fascinating, from a different time and place. I so enjoyed reading it and seeing the pictures. My husband was in Viet Nam too.

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  10. What a fascinating family history - and great pics. I hope you all enjoy your week of big celebrations! Merry Christmas, too!

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  11. Wow!How great it is for you to have all of that wonderful family history. I like that you and your twin both have the same foot up in your picture with your parents. Sweet!

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  12. So many wonderful reasons to celebrate! I wish you a joy-filled week.
    I always enjoy a family history post. I read this one with pleasure - such great photos!

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  13. Dear Mary, What an incredible post! How wonderful of you to share these fantastic photographs of your family. Happy Birthday to you and your husband. You have a lot to celebrate.

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  14. What a full few days you have. So much to celebrate!

    I love the photo of you in the pink Braniff outfit. So cute.

    Merry Christmas, Happy Birthday, Happy Anniversary!

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  15. Such a lot of beautiful old pictures! Very interesting and a unique historical collection, indeed!

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  16. This post was so very interesting to read!
    It`s fine to get information of ours "roots" and yours are special.
    I am a biologist but very interested in history as my husband. We visited over year ago - just few days before those awful disorders - Egypt.
    Of course we went to see Kings valley where a brave of Tutankhamen is and also pyramids.

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