A Ganomey or Two

This is my family in more recent years.  Not real recent but within the last 10 years or so.  I am standing behind my Mother with  my arm protectively around my older brother Steven.  Steven suffered from ankylosing spondalitis; an illness that attacked his spine, causing him to curl and shrink.  He was 5' 11" tall and I am 5' 6" so you can see how much heighth he lost.  We lovingly started calling him our gnome and at Christmas he would wear a red hat all the time to play that up.  In the way of our family, our gnome became Uncle Ganomey.  He loved it and put gnomes in his garden. 

Steven never married and had no children, but he loved our children as if they were his own.  And I think he loved our grandchildren even more.  He certainly would have loved this and I can just see him sitting in his chair in the corner with laughter shaking his ganomey body.

But then, what's not to love!  We laid Steven to rest last Halloween and I think my Baby GrandGirlie's costume was just perfect for this Halloween.