Young funsters

Something was very hilarious. 

Betty and Jan in August, 1940, while they were courting. 

 

Man with a fish

Today, a colour picture! My dad and a fish, at the Tillicum Bay Marina in the Sechelt Inlet. The boat's name was Calamity Jane. 

He still has the pipe, so I would say before 1968 or so. 

 

Jumping forward to the 1970s

I finally make an appearance here! 

This is five de Bruyns, and I would guess we are about to go on a journey. There's a box of groceries on the top of the yellow Volvo station wagon we had for a short time. Probably we were on our way to the cottage. 

Left to right we are Mary, John, Cedar in front, Betty, Jan. Apparently this was August, 1974, at our house on 35th Avenue. 

 

Last of Frank

This is in the back yard at our house on 35th. Frank, John and Jan. 

The date on the print in July 1961, and Frank died on July 17 in a mountain climbing accident. 

There are a couple of mentions of Frank's death in the online world including on the Wikipedia page about Mount Garibaldi, and this one about accidents in Canada.  

Father-in-law

I'd love to know what was going on here, but at some point early in my parents' life together, my skinny, young dad went swimming with my more robust grandfather. 

No date, but we could guess 1941 or so. 

 

Cute soldier

Here's my dad in his army uniform with his parents in 1942. 

He looks a bit awkward and his father's face is hidden behind smoke, but the best part of this picture is the back, "Cute soldier what I love, xx."

Their first child was born in September, 1942. 

There's Jan and his pipe again! 

In July 1941 my parents were recently married. 

 

Some de Bruyns in August 1944

My father, his mother, father, brother and sister. I knew my Auntie Ida, but both de Bruyn grandparents had passed on by the time I was born. 

No idea what house this was, but in Vancouver somewhere, I'd wager. 

Guys on Grouse Mountain

In March of 1943, my dad, his friend Mitch and two other young soldiers went up Grouse Mountain and struck a pose. 

 

Dads and babies

My dad is on the right with his 2-year-old, and the man on the left is Mitch with his daughter Anne. 

In those days, it seems my dad had a pipe in his mouth constantly!
 

Betty and Jan, and what I mean to do here

I have some of my mom's photo albums. Some of them are 72 pictures of out-of-focus people we don't know and the pyramids of Egypt, but I have one full of her old family pictures. 

And when I say old, I mean that this is very typical: my parents in, maybe, 1941. 

I know it is maybe 1941 because my sister wrote on the back:

There are also pictures of her siblings and their families, and of course eventually my siblings and me. 

I have a plan, or perhaps more of an idea: I shall reproduce them here in no particular order and tell my siblings and cousins and see if anyone is interested. At least it will help me to know what I have, and maybe we can identify some of the unknown faces. No one's getting any younger around here.