My dad Charles McGowan

My dad, born in 1919, grew up very poor in Denver, Colorado. Even though finances were bad for the McGowans, my grandmother managed to dress up her children, Charles and Anne, for the proper occasions.

Sailor suits were popular for little boys in the 1920s. In the photo above, Anne is around 2 and my dad, "Charlie," was about 4, all ready to go to church or maybe a party.

Here my dad was 5. My grandmother wrote on the back of this photo, "Denver 9/15/24 Heap Big Injun Chief Charlie -- posed this himself--Taken under our dining room window."

In the 1920s, westerns, both as silent films and then motion pictures, became wildly popular throughout America. Little boys, including my dad, all over the country wanted to dress like movie cowboys. In the photo above he was about 6, in 1925. He's all ready to rope a cow.

Above: 1927--My dad, 8, and his sister Anne, 6 (they're on the left), and two neighbor kids, are all dressed up for a dance recital.

Here's my dad in his Highlander Boys uniform in 1929, age 10. He had a wonderful time in the Highlander Boys, something like Boy Scouts...he frequently talked about it--They did camping and hiking and other Boy Scout-type activities. He looks a lot like my brother Mike here.

1942--Handsome young U.S. Navy Lieutenant Charles McGowan, freshly graduated from the United States Naval Academy, and about to be sent off to the war in the south Pacific. Because of his being in the Navy, he and my mother, who had grown up in a well-to-do family near Detroit, Michigan, met eventually in Los Angeles at the Officers Club held at the Ambassador Hotel. Was it serendipity or providence or fate?....I say it was God's providence, because I came into existence because of those circumstances!

Sally at The (Mis)Adventures of Karl and Sally has begun a meme where you can share your old family photos and stories. Go back in time and take a walk down memory lane by clicking here for Remember Whensday!