Gerteal and Barry

A selection of photos, past and present, in memory
of Gerteal (Feburary 11, 1916 - January 11, 1998)

	Gerteal, always stylish and very photogenic. She was definitely model or movie star material, but the time was wrong. I was just a baby, but I can still remember her in that dress.
	Pin-up photo circa late 1930's, before I was born. Gerteal loved posing for pictures, smiling lovely everytime. No wonder Carter had the hot's for her!
	June 1963 graduation photo form Durfee Middle School, Detroit, MI. I was 14, and the yearbook said I would be a boxer, because I loved to fight. It was kinda true, as I developed a lifelong interest in martial arts.
	The 1970's was a period of soul searching for me. Photography and tailoring were my means of relaxation. Gerteal was my best friend.
	My parents loved to party. Carter was always dapper, and Gerteal was the classic "kept" housewife. We were a nuclear family to the end.
	Gerteal was not concerned about aging; in fact she embraced it. Never one for wearing makeup or coloring her hair; comfortable in her own space. Her only nemesis was diabetes, her only vice_smoking!

	The last picture of O.C., Gerteal, and Barry together. Both my parents were in ill health at this time. O.C. Passed in June 1995, Gerteal in January 1998.
	I am a survivor, and have learned to go with the "flow". Like a tree, bending in the wind. You either go with the flow, or are uprooted and die! This is TAO.