There are so many names and people involved in my story, I thought maybe I should let you know who's who and their relationship to me and each other. Not all of them have been mentioned in my journal chapters yet, but when they are mentioned, I hope this list helps.

Remember, also, that anybody I call Aunt, Uncle, Grandma, Grandpa, etc. aren't my "real" relatives and the relationships indicated are only what I thought they were when I was growing up. Except for the cousins and a few of the older relatives, I have "divorced" them and no longer consider them family.

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My birth family:

James Joseph Carroll, my natural father
Leona Edwards Carroll, my natural mother
At least three full siblings, names unknown

The family that raised me:

Elaine, my mother
Red, Elaine's husband and my father
Carl, another husband of Elaine's
Jim, another husband of Elaine's
Ted, a "significant other" of Elaine's
Bill, another "significant other" of Elaine's

Neveal, Elaine's older sister, who I called Auntie and, for a while, Mom.
Paul, an early husband of Neveal's who I barely knew. She had several, most before I was born.
Clarence was Neveal's husband of the longest duration who I called Uncle and, for a while, Dad.
Frank, a man Neveal was married to for a very brief time after Clarence died.

Perry, Muriel, Virgil, and Nancy-Joy. Perry was next youngest to Elaine and died many years ago. Muriel is still living but is very ill. Virgil and Nancy both live in Alaska, and Muriel is there now, too. Nancy was my closest cousin when we were growing up because she is about my age. There is a picture of her when she was a child at Marilyn's birthday party; she's the one with the dark hair and bangs. I believe that Virg is in the picture also, but he's younger than Nancy and I'm not sure which boy he is.

Leon (Tony) rounds out the four children of Grandma Annabelle and was next oldest to Neveal. He figures strongly in some of my stories. He was married for many years to Sue, and then to Pat, and very, very briefly to someone else whose name I don't even know. Tony and Sue had a son named Jim. Tony and Jim were estranged for many years, but as Tony grew older, they had more contact with each other.

Annabelle (Grandma) had some brothers and sisters who will be mentioned sometimes, particularly Uncle Jack (and his wife Kathleen). Other than that, if any are mentioned, I will say who they are then.

Influential Others:

Don was my ex-husband. We married in Alaska in 1959 and divorced in 1966, at which time I moved to California with our two girls, Joni and Teri.

Marilyn is the closest I have to a sister and is also a very good friend. She lives in Washington State. She gets mentioned quite often in my journal pages, and has reminded me of some facts and filled in a lot of information for me.

Lynne and I have known each other since 1956 and have been through a lot together. She lives with Don in Northern California now, and we still keep in touch. It's nice to have such a long-standing and good friend.

There will be additions to this list, no doubt, as I go along.

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