The White Family - Part 1

Grandma Lucille White with all her living children.

This picture too seems sadly incomplete without Granddad in it. And it was Granddad, not Grandpa, which he was sure to remind me on the rare occasion I forgot. My other grandfather was Grandpa, and he sure did not want to be mistaken for him, Lewis Crane was not a nice man.

Granddad's name was Lyle White, and he was born in Nebraska but came to Washington State as a young man (sometime after 1930). Although I was not as close to Granddad as I would have liked, I did love and admire the man. I was a lot closer to him than to my other grandfather by far.

Grandma was born in North Carolina and came to WA in 1936 to live with her father, Ed Smathers, after her mother, Cora, was killed in an auto accident. Grandma was still ten years old when her mother died.

Grandma and Granddad met in 1941 and were married in 1942. Unlike with my other grandparents, they were very close. They stayed together through the years because they loved each other, not out of obligation or the fear of being alone.

Granddad died in 1987 from lung cancer. He died at home (at the previous White house that was sold and torn down not long after Granddad died - there is a child daycare center on that land now). I was there when he passed on and the pain of his loss is still with me.

Life goes on for the White family. Grandma is a great grandmother several times over, and now, she is even a great great-grandmother by three at last count. We have had a lot of losses over the decades but, as you can see here, we can still smile and go on with life.

The White Family - Part 2

Here, the group is more focused on the World Series game than getting their picture taken, yet again.

I took a few more shots anyway, in the hope of getting a better shot than I had been able to get so far, but unfortunately, they just kept going downhill from here. No one cared about getting their pictures taken anymore.

Keep in mind that I was only one of three family members with a blasted camera. Cateland and Stephanie also got in a few shots. ;)

Tammy and Mom

This picture was taken earlier in the evening, just before Grandma making a face picture, which I placed on page one.

Here Mom is sitting and talking with my fiancée, Tammy. They had met once before on Tammy's first trips up to visit me. Mom lives a couple hours drive away so we did not make it over to her place on Tammy's last visit. However, we did make sure to go see Mom on Tammy's first trip up here. This time we lucked out, Mom was already on this side of the Cascade Mountains for Grandma's birthday.

Mom and Tammy get along great, but then with Tammy's sweet disposition, she tends to get along great with anyone willing to look past color and size. As you can see from the pictures on these pages, my family does not concern itself too much with what color and size a person is. It is personality that matters, it is just that simple.

For those of you who are visiting these pages, but not family, I hope you have enjoyed this short and informal visit. We are a friendly bunch… even if a bit nuts.

Best regards to all, family, friends, and visitors - no matter where you are or where you are from.

Michael A. Crane, Jr.
December 31, 2005

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