Is that Annie Oakley?

My mom recently posted this photo of my grandmother on facebook. I was so surprised when I saw it. I thought I knew everything there was to know about my grandmother. Needless to say, her life still holds a few surprises.

My grandparents moved to Twentynine Palms about 1942, and lived for a time in the Joshua Tree National Monument (now the Joshua Tree National Park). The home they lived in initially had no roof, and I grew up on stories about wild horses peeking over the walls and stealing food from the windowsills. My mother and her siblings sleeping on cots outdoors (because it was cooler than in the house), and awakening to discover coyotes sniffing them. Great stories that made my imagination run wild!

I knew life was tough for them. They lost everything in a fire on their way to Twentynine Palms. They were already blessed with many children by that point, and apparently to get by, my grandparents would shoot rabbits to help feed the family. Look at that monster! It's huge! And I never even knew or suspected that my grandmother could handle a gun...she was about four foot eleven inches tall first thing in the morning. She was kind hearted, practical, and had a great sense of humor. Apparently she was also a great shot!

This summer, I picked up a gun for the first time and after receiving some gun safety tips, had my first attempts at firing the gun. I had to overcome some fear at first. My 13 year old cousin Stephen was accidentally shot through the head by his best friend when I was about 15, so I've always been a little terrified of guns. Yet when I picked it up and fired, I discovered I was calm, cool, and collected, and a pretty darn good shot myself. Maybe in addition to inheriting my grandmother's voice, I also inherited her shooting ability! Still, you won't find me out shooting rabbits anytime soon.