This woman, brightly smiling with golden curls and warm inviting blue eyes, was always there as I passed through the hallway from my bedroom to the living area. I knew her image before I even understood who she was. Mom probably said many times that this was her mother. But rarely, if ever, would I hear Mom refer to her as my grandmother. The name "Grandmother" was reserved for Margaret Virginia Dunaway, my dad's mother, the woman who was ever present in my life while growing up. Annis, on the other hand, was both unforgettable and mystifying, a treasure still waiting to be discovered.
I would love to have known this grandmother, too. She knew me during my first year on this earth before her own life was taken at such a young age in 1975. Tragedy made her an unknown figure through my formative years. But she was still a beautiful image on the wall of our home. Over the last few years I have little by little gotten better acquainted with Annis as she is one of the four channels of my family history as it is organized on this website. Were she still alive, today would be her 96th birthday!
I would love to have known this grandmother, too. She knew me during my first year on this earth before her own life was taken at such a young age in 1975. Tragedy made her an unknown figure through my formative years. But she was still a beautiful image on the wall of our home. Over the last few years I have little by little gotten better acquainted with Annis as she is one of the four channels of my family history as it is organized on this website. Were she still alive, today would be her 96th birthday!
*The portrait of Annis was most likely made around 1945 according to her daughter Joyceanne.