Week 8: The Little Ones with Aunt Agnes

I’ve decided to stick with the theme of favorite photos for a while. This is another image I discovered tucked into one of my grandmother’s scrapbooks, those quiet time capsules that somehow hold a whole world of unspoken love stories. 

This coming Friday, February 27 would have been my Grandma Clare's 97th birthday. She passed in 2023. My grandma Clare is the little girl on the left with the chunky bangs. I’d recognize that face anywhere. I had the very same haircut for half of my life, which makes this photo feel even more personal, like a tiny echo of the past across generations. I’m guessing my grandmother was about three years old when this photo was taken.

On the back of the photo, someone wrote “Aunt Agnes & Claire.” I know for certain my grandmother didn’t label it herself because whoever did misspelled her name. It’s Clare, with no “i.” Which is ironic, considering she was named after St. Clare, the patron saint of eyes. Yet no “i”s in Clare. Go figure.

I’m not entirely sure who the baby or the young boy are. If I had to guess, the baby might be my grandmother’s younger brother, Richard Joseph Henry (March 19, 1932 – July 26, 1998). Nanny had just turned three when Richie was born. If that’s the case, then the little boy could be her older brother, Robert Victor Henry (October 21, 1925 – April 30, 2011). Maybe. Although I’m less confident about because the boy doesn’t quite look six years old to me, which is how old Bobby would have been in 1932.

As for Aunt Agnes, she was my grandmother’s maternal aunt, Agnes Sauer (April 23, 1910 – October 4, 1973). She was 21 when Richie was born, turning 22 that year. She passed away shortly before I was born, at the age of 63. She never married and had no children of her own, but she was a deeply loved aunt. My grandmother mentioned her from time to time, always fondly, and carries her name as her middle name, Clare Agnes Henry-Earle.

Of course, I’m making the huge assumption that the baby and the little boy are relatives. We tend to do that when looking at old family photos, don't we? As if neighbors, friends, or acquaintances couldn’t possibly have attended the same event. Still, I’m working through my family tree now, especially on my grandmother’s maternal side, to see if she had cousins close in age to her, since the little boy appears only slightly older than Nanny; maybe 4 or 5 years-old.

If anyone in the family recognizes these faces, remembers a story, or has seen this photo before in another album, I would love to hear from you. Even the smallest detail, a name, a hunch, a half-remembered anecdote, could help me place these children in our family story. If you recognize the faces or know more about Aunt Agnes, I’d be so grateful to learn from you.