Elvis!?

:D Leave it to my ol' friend 'Alekx' to ask me if Elvis had attended Jim & Thelma's wedding in Vegas. The subject did come up at the funeral and the answer is ... we still don't know, Jim came from a very quiet family.
My dear cousin Dorothy (90) was an only child and lived up the lane from her cousins during their growing up years. To this day, she is fond of remembering how gentle my great-grandmother was, "I never, ever heard Eurilla raise her voice," Dorothy will say, "Isn't that something? Seven kids and she never raised her voice, ever."
Jim did say that he and Thelma had found a nice little chapel and that several celebrities had been married there, too.
I found out that Thelma, was not only an accomplished dancer, but had a beautiful singing voice, and at one point had been encouraged to sing professionally. She loved to garden and was a member of the china painter's guild, she had created many beautiful plates which she gave to family and friends. Jim & Thelma could not only clear a dance floor, with their smooth stepping, but enjoyed camping together and traveled quite a bit. (Florida, California, Colorado, as well as Nevada)
I told my Uncle Jim that I could see why he fell in love with Thelma and that I felt he was a good example for the rest of us, in that he was LIVING his life, and not seeming to take anything for granted, and that I admired him for doing so. He got serious with me at that moment, and said that he thought a person needed to be active. That otherwise you run the risk of rotting away. That it gets harder, the older you get, to be alone, because one just doesn't get out and socialize like you do when you are younger. He said he'd seen guys retire at 65 and just sit and rot and be dead a year later. He said he didn't want to see one like Thelma have to be alone. I told him that I knew he had something there; that activity, and being anxiously engaged in good causes is a key in this life to gaining all the goodness, and joy, and longevity you can out of it.
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92, physically, and mentally fit, who am I to argue with this wise 'elder' of mine? - especially when the man has been doing so many things oh, soooooooo right!
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The photo was taken by my grandmother, who was the oldest child. We like this photo for several reasons. Love the fact that my great aunts and uncles are children here, seemingly lined up according to age, and enjoying some homemade fun! Jim is the second from the right.