Ina Pearl - Two

I started posting pictures of Nana's life and wanted to continue on with the 80s and 90s.

I can only imagine these years of becoming a Nana to five grand-children were some of her favorites.

 

Here Nana is with her first grandchild - Jennifer Lyn Florimonte.

She was born on February 14, 1981.

 

My Uncle Tom is Italian and Nonna is grandmother in Italian.

I'm not sure why they spelled it Nana, but we pronounce it Nonna.

 

 Their close friends hosted a 40th wedding anniversary party for them in 1981.

Here they are at home before leaving for the party.

 

Look at the happy couple - and the big fancy anniversary cake. :)

 

Nana and Ampa adored each other and he called her 'Pearl'

She was very attentive to him, I'm sure the ideal wife.

She was a real homemaker - cooked, cleaned and cared for everyone in her house.

She put in and took out the one contact he wore every morning and night.

 

I think this picture is from 1980 and my mom must have taken it.

I imagine it is one of their first holidays as grandparents.

I just love how Ampa is staring at Jenny.

 

 Their first grandson - Russell Boyd Luttrell was born on November 12, 1982.

 

I came next - Kelli Lyn Luttrell born on April 25, 1984

Then James Michael Florimonte was born on March 13, 1985.

 

These are the first 'front porch pictures' that I found.

We spent a lot of Easter's at their home and would dress in our best,

go to church, eat and then hunt for eggs.  

 

Easter 1986

 

My mom must have been pregnant here. So classy. :)

 

Their final grandchild, Leslie Elaine Luttrell was born on December 12, 1986. 

 

Easter 1987. 

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time.

 

This is one of the classic pictures of our childhood. We recreated it in 2002.

 

I still remember getting all dressed up and going to take these family pictures.

I think this is a beautiful picture.

Mom made our matching dresses and Noah now wears Russell's plaid shirt.

 

Okay - I'm going to issue a warning here.

As we enter the 1990s the pictures are not all as cute as above.

Some of us grandkids had some rough, awkward years.

 

 Nana was very talented at sewing and one Christmas she made all of us ladies matching vests.

They were very on trend for the time and I LOVED mine.

She also made each of her grandchildren quilts.

  

I'm not sure what event this is, but the white dress Leslie is wearing was made by my Mom and I'm really crossing my fingers that she still has it for our baby girl.

 

 Easter 1992 (I think)

I mean - my dress is something special. And the gloves. I am jealous of myself!

 

Nana and Ampa - the ring on her right hand includes a her mother's diamond and Ampa's mother's diamond. They put them together in a ring and she always wore it.

 

Another good ole front porch picture.

I had adopted the black bangs from Nana's childhood apparently.

 

 

Nana always set at this end of the table (close to the kitchen) and Ampa sat at the opposite end.

It seemed Jenny and Russell always got to sit with the grown ups and Leslie, James and I were given a kid table. Its OK, I think our table was more fun.

 

I can remember many times, in that seat, Nana crying during the blessing over the food, or when someone gave her a card or gift.

 

My parents purchased some property at The Cliffs on Possum Kingdom Lake and I'm sure Dad was ecstatic to bring Nana and Ampa to see it.

 

They loved to travel and were always up for an adventure.

 

In November 1995, we were at The Cliffs (just my immediate family) celebrating Russell's 13th birthday. This was before cell phones and I remember pulling into the entrance and the man at the gate saying they had been looking for us and that Dad needed to call about his Father.

Ampa had had a stroke and it was the first time I ever saw my Dad cry.

  

Easter 1996 (I think)

 

 

Nana & Ampa always stayed close with her brother and sister in law - William and Pauline.

 

Here are our families together.

 

I remember when Aunt Jackie took Jenny and Nana to get Glamour Shots and I was jealous!

 

 

I think this is from a family reunion in Sherman.

I'm not sure where I am. :)

Nana and her cousins and their families would meet for a Rogers family reunion every summer.

 

Lovebirds.

 

 This is a three generation picture of Nana, her daughter, and granddaughter.

I think the three of them do look a LOT alike.  

 

Easter 1997 (I think)

Yes, I'm wearing a skort.

 

Nana and her five grandkids at our house in Howe.  

  

 Easter 1999 (I think)

 

Nana and Ampa in their home in Honey Grove.

She loved having people over and was a great cook.

 

We took more family pictures in their home.
Please note the ferns on the sides. :)

 

Just look at these love birds. :)

 

 Nana and Ampa were always there for us. I remember being so proud that they came to grandparents day in first grade.

They always showed up for lots of games and events.

This picture was from an award ceremony in Howe. 

 

We took our final family pictures together in 2000 (I think).

You can tell Ampa's health had declined and he was losing weight.

He struggled with Alzheimer's and Nana was an amazing caregiver to him.

 

On a side note - can you tell Dr Martens were popular.

I just wish I could see if Russell had them on too. :)

Also, please note the ferns in the picture. :)

And the sweethearts

 

I love this picture of Russell with Nana and Ampa.

You can tell they love him and are so proud of him.

 

I love this sweet picture of Nana and Ampa on their porch in Honey Grove.

They took a lot of pride in their house and how it looked.

Nana loved her ferns and had lots of them hanging around the porch.

 

 Easter 2001 (I think)

This might be our last front porch picture with Ampa.

 

In 2001, Nana and Ampa hosted a class reunion.

I love that all these people were truly their lifelong friends.

 

In October 2001, a big group traveled out to Lubbock for the Kansas State/Texas Tech game.

I stayed home because it was my senior year and I'm sure I had a volleyball game.

Jenny and Russell were both at Texas Tech then and I just know Nana and Ampa were proud and thrilled to get to visit them and attend the game.

 

In 2002, Ampa's heath declined and his Alzheimer's made living at home very difficult.

They made the tough decision to place him in a nursing home in Honey Grove.

It was about a mile from their house and Nana would take him meals and visit him everyday.

 

I think in the very end he only knew Nana and he still knew that he loved her fiercely.

 I specifically remember visiting and him wheeling as fast as he could to her for a kiss.

I won't ever forget their love.

 

 

I went to A&M for my freshmen year in 2002 and I know that I missed some of the struggles my family was facing with Ampa's care.

 

This picture was from either Thanksgiving or Christmas 2002.

We attempted to recreate the picture from the 1987 that is below.

Russell and Jenny were out of order and Nana couldn't hold Leslie anymore ;)

 

 Ampa passed away on January 12, 2003.

We were all heartbroken.

 

At 82, Nana was still very healthy and continued on living a full life.

She was able to meet multiple great-grandbabies, travel and share her love with us awhile longer.

Ina Pearl - One

I wanted to put a few of my favorite pictures of Nana on the blog and this turned into me finding more pictures than I was originally thinking so this will be at multiple part series. I tried my best to put them in chronological order. We love our sweet Nana.

Ina Pearl Rogers was born to Aldridge William Rogers and
Ada Lee Spencer Rogers on August 30, 1920.

She was their first child, followed by a boy - William Rogers

 

 

Here she is with family. She is standing on the right side of the picture in front of her Dad.

She grew up on a farm in Windom, Texas.

She is in the center bottom row of this picture, fourth from the right.

She always had bangs as a kid.

I'm thinking I get my jet black hair from her. ;) 

With an August birthday she was one of the older kids in class and Ampa always gave her a hard time for being 10 months older than her.
I thought it was soooo funny when I was a kid.

This is her with her fellow Windom Elementary School students.
She is the second from the right in the middle row - sporting blank bangs. :)

She graduated high school in 1938 along side Jack Cobb Luttrell - my Ampa.
She is in the front row, third from the right and he is in the front row on the right.

When we were younger he loved to tell us how he would walk to her house and walk all the way back home - just to visit her. I think the visits involved sitting in the living room with her parents talking.

He loved her fiercely and I knew that from a very young age.
 I got a lot of these pictures from a slide show my sweet Aunt Jackie had made for Nana's 90th birthday party. I hadn't seen this picture before and couldn't believe how much my cousin, Jenny, looks like her.

This is the farm house she grew up in. Her niece added a second floor and lives there today. She was born in this home and married in this home.

 After high school she continued to date Jack and they married October 12, 1941
Cecil and I chose to get married on the same date - 71 years later.

Of course, Pearl Harbor was bombed less than two months after they got married.
Jack was farming with her Dad and was able to stay out of the war for awhile.

But he did eventually have to leave. He went to Korea on a large ship and would talk about it often at the end of his life. He frequently would mention meeting a young boy that he wish he could have brought back home with him.

 

 

After the war, they continued their life on the farm and welcomed a baby girl in February 1950.

Jacquline Lyn Luttrell

I'm named after her - Kelli Lyn Luttrell. :)

 
 Four years later they had a boy - my Dad.
Roger Boyd Luttrell

 

 Nana is in the center here with her two children standing in front of her.

Here she is with her two children, including my Dad being silly.

Mother and daughter. They were quite the pair. The best of friends.

Aunt Jackie, Dad, Nana, and Ampa (and dog Henry) in front of their farm house that burned June 1968. Nana would cry when she talked about losing this home and all the possessions inside.
She lost all her family heirlooms.

 

Neither Nana nor Ampa were able to go to college and they strongly stressed the importance of education and worked hard to provide their children with the best they could.

Jackie graduated from Honey Grove High School in 1968 - and that summer the house burned.
She had planned to go to Texas Tech, but needed to stay closer to home.
She graduated from East Texas State University in 1972.

Roger graduated from Honey Grove High School in 1972 and attended Austin College.
He played football and graduated in 1977 with a Masters in Education.

He said Nana and Ampa traveled to most (if not all) of his games - home and away.

After the farm house burned, Nana and Ampa moved into town in Honey Grove.
They eventually moved to this home on Bois D'arc Road.
This was their home through the end of their lives.

Nana worked for Honey Grove ISD as a bookkeeper.
I have been told that she worked up until they introduced computers, and then she retired. :)

Nana and Ampa always had close friends, and after their kids left the nest, they were able to travel. Here are a few couple pictures of them traveling with friends.

 

 

My parents were married April 28, 1978.
My Mom's parents are next to her and Dad's parents are next to him.

Ampa served as my Dad's best man.

I just love this picture of Ampa laughing and smoking a cigarette.
William and Pauline (Nana's brother and sister in law) are between the two of them.
Ampa was always the life of the party and Nana loved being right there with him.

 

This is outside my parents first home in Houston.

 

Jackie and Tom were married May 17, 1980.

This brings us to her "Nana" years and I'll start that in another post.
Of course there are a lot more pictures of the most recent years.