Camino Frances, part 2

My earrings are scallop shells. Yesterday's post was long enough for two, so today is a brief continuation. I put the scallop shells, symbol of the Camino Frances, on top of a family photo. There in the center is my mom, 4 year old Frances. She was the youngest of six children; to her left is my Uncle Nathan, child #5; to her right is my oldest first cousin, George, son of child #1. My grandmother, Mema, is holding this first grandchild. She is about 47 in this photo, although I've always thought she looked much older.

When my mother was 6 weeks old, in April of 1923, my grandmother took her brood on a healing pilgrimage to the family beach house at Neptune Beach, Florida. All 6 children were ill, my mother having contracted both whooping cough and measles from two sick siblings. They all recovered. I'm willing to bet that there were a few scallop shells about the house.