February Birthdays in the Redmond-Reese Family

February is a unique month for the Redmond-Reese Family.  In this one month of the year, we celebrate five birthdays in our family, but what makes it unique is that all five generations of our family are represented in these five February birthdays.  A special shout out to Kim who celebrated her birthday on the 4th.  Kim's daughter Katie will be 15 on the 20th of February!  Sharyn will celebrate her birthday on 24 February.  And in between those special days, our family remembers Grandpa (Al) Redmond's birthday on the 15th and Grandpa (Bob) Reese's on the 17th.  If you consider that Grandpa Redmond, the originator of our Redmond family, was born in 1897, these five generations represent 113 years of our family.  Below are baby pictures of Bob, Sharyn, Kim, and Katie.  While I don't have a baby picture of Al, the earliest picture I have is from a class photograph taked in 1909 when he would have been about 13.

Albert Redmond, b. Feb. 15, 1897

taken 1909

Robert Norman Reese, born February 17, 1916

Sharyn Colleen, born February 24

Kimberly Jane, born February 4

Katie Nicole, born February 20

So whose birthday is January 6th?

Ninety-one years ago on January 6, 1919, Ethel Geraldine Redmond was born in the small village of Volant, near New Castle, Pennsylvania, the oldest daughter of Albert and Myrtle Redmond. Gone from our lives way too early, we are left with many memories. Whether daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother, sister-in-law, aunt, or friend, I would say that Ethel was a very special person. I remember many things about her from her great smile, her amazing laugh, her love for her family, her dedication to her friends, her church, and her community, or positive outlook wherever life or Bob would take her. Not that she didn't have disappointments, troubles, or hardships, because she surely did, but often times she was a model of how to come through the difficulties of life with grace and dignity. What I remember and loved so much about her was how she treated each one of us as uniquely special, worthy, and loveable--what I would say is the true picture of how Christ taught us to love each other. And I think that was the rare gift that she had.

It would be great to hear your memories of Ethel, what she meant to you, and what impact she might have had on your life. Take a look at the attached collage of photos of her life, roughly in chonological order going clockwise, starting in the upper left-hand corner. Also, I have tried my hand at my first "multi-media" video, a slideshow of those pictures which you can find at the following link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0XzW1TsKM (or go to youtube.com and search on Ethel Redmond Reese; it is also on my Facebook page and I think it looks better there). The music might not be the best choice, but everytime I hear the song I can still hear her voice singing it. I will probably be refining the slideshow so if anyone has any other suggestions please let me know. I hope you enjoy the photos and the slideshow!

Give someone special a yellow rose in memory of Ethel...