That really is me. The partial head is my little brother. He is 25 months younger than me.
I loved wearing that bow tie. I was trying to somehow grasp a deeply forgotten recollection of the day that photo was taken. I came up with some flashes of memory. I remember the bow tie. It was a clip-on. I remember our mother being very fussy about our appearance that day. It became my job to keep by brother's tie in place. The little sh*t was not cooperating. It was an omen of life ahead.
I feel your pain, as #2 of 6, I was also saddled with the responsibility of making sure the younger sibs were well behaved and put together.
I love that picture, the fact that it is really you makes it all the more endearing. Your slicked hair, bow tie and boyish good looks really shine through.
My third grandmother, my dad's stepmother, who I never got to see very often but whom I always loved, used to pull me aside at every meeting to let me know she always thought I was the best looking one "in that family" "I tell everyone about you". You'd have to know her to know how natural that was for her. That lady was a hoot!
She died on my 28th birthday.
Edit: I must add that I had these incredible aqua-blue eyes when I was a child, which mesmerized everyone who saw them. Strangers on the street use to come up and talk about my eyes. Every girl in the world wanted to stare into them.
Now they are just a dull blue-gray. Ageing is a cruel invention.
