On July 4th in 1961 my sister Betty was anticipating the birth of her second baby. Coronado was celebrating the birthday of our country as it does each year with a parade and other festivities. Doctor Turpin* was called away from the parade to deliver Betty and Sam's baby girl at the Coronado Hospital. This was a wonderful way to celebrate 4th of July and we will always remember the birthday of my niece Elizabeth Frances Hamilton.My sister Betty was also born in Coronado, in the little hospital that used to be on the eleven hundred block of Orange Avenue in the thirties and forties. I wrote more about this in an earlier blog post, "First Memories," which I wrote in June. My sister Donna was born in the same hospital as Betty was. My daughter Kathy had been born in the same Coronado Hospital as her cousin Elizabeth.
My sister's maiden name was Betty Frances McDonaugh. Baby Elizabeth was given her mother's middle name Frances as her middle name. This had been a family name for several generations. My mother was Ida Frances which came from both of her grandmothers. The name Elizabeth came from our grandmother Pearl Elizabeth Davenport. Elizabeth became known as Sissy as she was Gary's little sister. We called her Sissy for years. Some in her family called her Liz. I think some still do. I prefer to call her Elizabeth.
This is the year that Elizabeth turns fifty. It is hard to believe that it was so many years ago on that July 4th in Coronado that we celebrated the birth of Betty and Sam's only daughter. Elizabeth had big brother Gary and then she became a big sister to Matthew and Mark. Elizabeth has two sons, Andrew and Elijah. She is married to Jack Davis and is a step mother to his adult children. This year Elizabeth became a grandmother when Andrew and Natasha became parents. Actually Elizabeth considers Jack's grandchildren to be her grandchildren too, so she is blessed with a number of little ones to love.Coronado continues to celebrate the birthday of the good old U.S.A. in a grand way. There is always a parade and we often go to see it. We often run into old friends as we enjoy the festivities. Last year I went to the parade with daughter Kathy and her husband John as well as my sister Donna and her husband Fred. It was a fun family day. I also went to my high school 55th reunion with Madeline. Donna went with us as a guest. She is CHS class of 1956. Madeline and I are from Coronado High class of 1955. This year Laura and I plan to go to the parade and then go to a barbecue at First Baptist in Coronado. There is always fireworks to go see but we will be back home enjoying the fireworks on TV that evening.
We celebrate being in such a great country where we still enjoy freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from fear and freedom from want. Norman Rockwell painted some favorite pictures that illustrate these freedoms. I have a book that has copies of some of our favorite Norman Rockwell scenes and these four are among them. Some of my friends and I went to the art museum in Balboa Park in the year 2000 to see the Norman Rockwell exhibit and these pictures were included. I consider his paintings to be my favorites. I grew up seeing his illustrations on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post and other magazines. He also painted portraits of some of our presidents.
Celebrate our United States of America. Celebrate our land of the free and home of the brave. Celebrate families and birthdays. Rejoice and be glad.
*Dr. Turpin was the founder of Project Concern in the sixties.
Image credit: riptheskulll
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