Last but not least

In 1971 I told my sweetie that if he wanted us to try one last time to have a son, I was willing. This was to be the last child regardless. I figured I would have another beautiful daughter like my previous three. Surprise, surprise! On July 20, 1972, God gave us a son. This made our family complete. He is about 6 months old in this picture. Cute little fellow, huh? Because his name is the same as his dad's and because he was our little tag along when we went on girl scouting ventures, he was nicknamed "Tag" and that has stuck with him to this day.

Youngest Daughter Baby Pic

This is Mary at one year of age. Photographers finally got with it and began to use color photos. That's all of the baby pictures for today.

Catch Up on Baby Pics

This picture of Bonnie is so adorable I couldn't help but include it, especialy since the first one of her was so little. She is only 5 1/2 months and no one is holding her up. See, she has been strong even as an infant.

Family Album Found!

I will now be able to show you some more cuties. Here is a picture of Lynn at one year of age.


There's more to come. Stay tuned.

Big change in our life

Our little growing family of five moved into a bigger house in 1970 and life was good. Then one day life got even better. We were introduced to and began research on a new Faith. Both of us were raised as Christians and we belonged to a Christian church. My sister, however, had discovered a young religion called Baha'i in 1969 and she had embraced it. Followers of Baha'u'llah are known as Baha'is. Wayne and I read many books on this new Faith until we finally felt it to truly be the latest word of God to man and we therefore must embrace it also. On June 13, 1970 we officially enrolled into the Baha'i Faith. Now we believe every day is the sabbath day, not just Sunday. We pray every day and have the bounty of having prayers revealed by Baha'u'llah Himself to use as well as His son Abdul-Baha for spiritual guidance and sustenance. Based on Baha'i writings, we believe that work when done in a spirit of service is literally worshipping God. Such a good feeling. Three major tenets in the Baha'i Faith are that God is one, humankind is one, and all religions are one. We feel so fortunate to have found this new Faith.

Time to get educated

I needed fulfillment professionally in my life so I was accepted in a nursing school in Charlotte where we lived. I completed my diploma in nursing and passed boards to become a registered nurse in 1966. I began work immediately at the hospital where I trained (now Carolina Regional). I worked for two years and on October 28, 1968 a carefully planned third child was born. Another beautiful daughter! I wish I could find a baby picture of her but alas, it is not to be today. We still have much unpacking to do (more on that later). Anyway, here she is today:

Yet another beautiful surprise

Wayne was honorably discharged (earlier than we had expected) in August, 1962. We headed back home to his old job along with our now 9 month old sweetie. I had morning sickness. Yes, as the saying goes, I was knocked up again and our 2nd lovely daughter was born on February 21, 1963. She had gobs of black hair (like her mom had at birth) and we were ecstatic. Two beautiful daughters in less than 2 years.
I found a picture of her at one year of age. Isn't she adorable?

And then there were three

Well, we coasted along for almost a year after marriage. Wayne (my spouse's middle name and what he actually goes by) finished his 6 months of reserve training and came home in January. At that time God said to me that it was more important to start our family than go to nursing school so eight and one half months after our first anniversary our beautiful daughter Lynn was born. While I was still in the hospital, my dear husband got surprising Army orders (we thought he was done with active duty). He was to report on December 7 to Fort Benning, Georgia (500 miles away) for at least one year of active duty because of war conditions abroad. Our baby would be 2 weeks old. We were both crushed.
Here she is as she looks today. She will probably be upset with me but I think it is a nice picture.

The beginning

Well, I guess we need to jump on the bandwagon of this family and update our life to all who care to read about it.  I don't know how to make this blog look like my son's and I like his format but I will learn how  so help me and that is that.  

I am not sure where to start.  48 years ago (1959) I was in nursing school in Charlotte, NC.  I was 19 years old and very much in love with my college sweetheart.  Since his first name is Francis and my first name is Frances we decide to start our blog as Fran & Fran.  He had gone back to the college where we met to retake a course he had failed to pass so that he would be through with Lees-McRae Junior College.  I was due to be in nursing school for three years and then we would get married, or so we thought.  Before I finished my freshman year we decided we could not wait for the nursing school's permission to marry.  Even then there were troubled war times that made me wonder if we would still have a world by the summer of 1961 (when the school would give permission for us to marry, and not before).  We decided to elope and keep it a secret. He joined the Army Reserve the day after we were married (April 1, 1960) in order to fulfill an acceptable military service required by our government.  Neither of us were happy about being involved in a war or the military.  He left for basic training in August and I stayed in school.