This (to the limited extent of my rendering abilities) is the face of my Nana as a beauty queen in the 1930s. And although she died last night at the age of basically 95, genetics dictates that I see a shadow of this face every time I look at my sister, cousins, aunts, and even my girlier uncles. And who knows, maybe it’s because they see a bit of Nana in themselves that they do their best to carry on her ageless exuberance, nurturing manner, and sharp sense of humor. We’ll never quite match up to her, but she gave us something to aim for, and that made us who we are. If you’re reading this and feeling sad, feel lucky instead–and keep aiming.

Here’s my Great Great Great Grandfather with my Great Great Great Great Grandfather. Holy sheez, this is an old picture! I’ll verify the exact date with my Aunt, but it must date from around the time of the Civil War (although these Mexicans probably weren’t worrying about that).

Obviously I have no idea what these dudes looked like, so I used some artistic license, and photos of my Dad and Uncle Bobby for reference.

Is it possible that this is the first time I’ve subjected my sister to a sketch on this site? Does it still count even when the drawing looks like some other lady entirely? Anyway, here she is showing off her cool new haircut.

The niece and I are co-designing a cartoon bear. (That’s her whiskey over there.)