We Nine

This is the only known photograph ever taken of our whole family together. We are blessed, however, with many other wonderful family pictures, including those of the early generations given to us by our cousin, Merlin Ringering, and those precious pictures kept in safety by Iris, who liberated them from the old olive-drab strongbox early-on knowing that they would surely gradually disappear if she did not. She was no doubt right about that. And so, thank you, Iris; we are glad to see those pictures in this book—many for the first time. In the chapters that follow, the pictures are placed chronologically, more or less, and do not necessarily illustrate the story near them. This book has been a long time coming because it has so many pictures, every one worth waiting for!