Not eight
ladies dancing maids a-milking, but six ladies all in a row. My grandmother, Aimée, is in the center with her five daughters, from left to right, Eva, May (Aimée), Gladys, Irma, and Pearl (my mother). Eva and Irma lived in Reno, Nevada, so they must have come to New Orleans for a visit. My mother and my Aunt May look so young. My grandmother always looked old to me, I'm sad to say, probably even before she was old. She dressed in the old-fashioned way with long dresses, lisle stockings, and sensible, lace-up shoes.
The young lady pictured above is ready to dance. My granddaughter was three or four years old in the picture and wears one of her costumes for her dancing school recital. I sat through the recitals for my sister, my daughter, and my granddaughter. As a child, I enjoyed my sister's dance recitals, but, as an adult, the recitals with performances by many youngsters seemed endless. My sister was a talented dancer and danced through high school, but my daughter and granddaughter took dance lessons for only a few years. Thank heaven for small mercies.
I'm running out of material for the twelve days of Christmas, with still more days to fill. I should have stuck with the song.
UPDATE: My grandparents had seven children in all, five daughters and two sons.
