Family Resemblances

One reason I love looking at old pictures of family members is to see if there is any resemblance to living family members.  I like the idea that those genes just keep appearing to connect us to one another in a visual way.

Now, I don't know much more than the science behind genetics other than Gregor Mendel and his pea plants that I remember from high school biology, but in the genetic pool that we all come from, I know the possibility is there that an ancestor's nose, eyes, or hair color will find its way into one of my grandchildren.  In looking for these visual connections, I didn't have to look too far to find one such case that tells me that my father, my son, my grandson, and I all descend from my great-grandfather, Frank Clark.  That same gene is floating around in each of us.  I only wish I had a photograph of Frank's parents so I could tell if that gene came from the Clark's or from Frank's mother, Belle Stairs.  

Frank Clark

Me with my cousin Mike  - about 1959

                                

Timothy Koehler - 1984 - age 4

My dad, Bob Wayson,
 with my grandson, Liam, who is Timothy's son.

This month marks the thirty-third anniversary of my Aunt Edna Mae's death.  On September 5, 1977, she was shot and killed by her second husband, Dan Dodson in Benton, Arkansas.

Edna Mae Wayson was born November 3, 1941 in Dover, Kentucky.  She was the sixth child and second daughter of William and Juanita (Clark) Wayson.   She relocated to Benton, Arkansas with my grandmother and several of her siblings in the early 1960's.  It was there that she married her first husband, Tommy Raper.  They had three children, a boy and two girls.

It was during her second marriage that Edna Mae decided to pursue a career as a Licensed Practical Nurse.  Her career was short-lived.  Her life cut short.

May you rest in peace.  You are remembered, Aunt Edna.