August 19

 I don't have any pictures of the few birthday and anniversary people for today, so I'm gonna borrow one from tomorrow.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Irma Oma Dell Barnett Hawley 1928-2010

Oma Dell was my mother's cousin -- the only child of my grandmother's oldest sister Ruby Hicks. Ruby married Arvil 'Jack' Barnett in 1926. (It is said that the reason Oma Dell was an only child was because Jack was unwilling to put Ruby through the ordeal of childbirth again.)

Photo: Arvil Barnett and Ruby Hicks

Ruby was the oldest of the nine children of Ulysses and Annie Hicks. When Oma Dell was born in 1928 some of her aunts and uncles (Bernice and Lowell Hicks) were not even born yet.

Oma Dell married Donald Hawley, and they had four children: Donna Kay, Mike, Danny, and David.

Oma Dell's daughter Donna Kay was a favorite cousin of mine, even though she lived in Missouri and we lived in Michigan. She would come up to visit her grandparents (Jack and Ruby) at least once a year. 

Photo: Me and Donna Kay. This would have been Christmas of 1955.

Photo: Donna Kay, Cindy, and me. Cindy is another cousin, the daughter of Bernice Hicks Bridges. This picture was taken at Ulys and Annie's house in Benton Harbor, 1957 or 58.