Blast from the past

Jan, Norma Jean, and family car, 1955 or 1956

Norma Jean was going through some of her old family photos and found this one that HAD to have been taken in 1955 or at the latest 1956, since she is still pre-pubescent and at thirteen I am, well, stacked. It was taken in Puerto Rico while our dad was stationed there. We spent around three years at Ramey Air Force Base, and we both attended school on base. Norma Jean must have started to blossom herself right after this picture was taken. We both laughed over it, but I was actually quite surprised to realize there was a time when the two of us had such different physiques. Sisters with a two-and-a-half year difference in age rarely have anything that documents what those turbulent teenage years do to a girl's body.

Not to mention that I must have had one of those 1950s type conical bras to provide me with such a striking profile. Must have just purchased something like this and wanted to show it off, who knows? Whatever the reason for this picture is lost in the sands of time.

DJ and NJ, 2011

When we got together last month, both of us still kickin' and having gone through another fifty-some years of life, I think I can safely say we are both in good health and lucky to be able to look back together and laugh at ourselves. I do know that I learned how to apply makeup during those years (as I look at that bright red lipstick I was wearing then) and realize that I learned subtlety sometime later. No wonder I had such a hard time learning how to be ME at thirteen, since I was changing so rapidly I could hardly keep up!

A lot of life has flown through these two girls since that first picture was taken, and I sincerely hope that subsequent years will bring us more laughter and many more wrinkles. I love you, Norma Jean!
:-)