It’s the 200th birthday of Charlotte Brontë — how the years fly by! Her first novel, Jane Eyre, was published around the time I started kindergarten, although I didn’t get around to reading it until I was in my teens. When I finally did, it marked the beginning of a love affair with nineteenth century British literature that has been one of the greatest sources of joy in my life. Thanks, Charlotte!
Home sweet home
Bob's sister Hannah
Bob's sister Ada
Bob's brother Otto
Bob's sister Eve
Bob's sister Nan
A baby picture of Bob and his siblings (clockwise from upper left: Otto, Eve, Hannah, Ada, Bob, and Nan)
Bob's childhood home
Bob's mom and dad
Bob in his youth
Bob's cousin Alphonse
Bob's Uncle Ralph and Aunt Edna
Bob's cousin Archibald
Bob's stepbrother Herbie (who really needs to quit smoking)
Bob's cousin Chester
Bob's Great Uncle Norbert and Great Aunt Phyllis
Bob's cousin Saffron (who will do anything for a drink)
Bob's cousin Thorndike
Bob's brother-in-law Vinnie
Bob's cousin Orville, who loves the Green Bay Packers
Bob's nieces Lulu and Bitsy, the biker chicks
Bob's stepsister Eloise, with the twins, Rudy and Trudy
Bob's Uncle Henry and Aunt Rowena
Bob's niece Esmerelda (who likes to live dangerously)
Bob's Great Uncle Arthur up in Saskatchewan
Bob's cousin Louie, the grackle of grumpiness
Miss Screech, Bob's journalism teacher
Bob's nephew Winthrop, who loves sports
Bob's Uncle Seymour and Aunt Bernice
Bob's second cousin Schlomo in Brooklyn
Bob's nephew Baxter
Bob's cousin Darrell
Nigel, Bob's pen pal in New Zealand
Bob's sister-in-law Delphine, who volunteers at the animal shelter
Percy the Pickpocket, Bob's third cousin once removed (the relative no one likes to talk about... every family has one)
The Bluebird of Happiness™ (no relation to Bob)
A pair of boobies (also no relation to Bob, but included for readers who desire titillation)
A pair of tits (in case the boobies were insufficiently titillating)
Bluebird Bitter™, the beer they named for Bob
bluebird of bitterness 
I’m confused. Jane Eyre was published in 1847. That makes you about 165 years old.
Despite your age, I too, an addicted to 19th century British literature.
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Yep… and I look every day of it. 🙂
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I doubt that! Rumor has it that you’re cute as lady bug. Okay – a very old lady bug, but still cute.
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🙂
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My favorite book as a child, and still, I think. And the film with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles is wonderful.
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Time really does fly. I went to grade school with Jane. She was a brilliant writer even then. 😉
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Cool! I worked on the high school yearbook with Louisa May Alcott. She was the editor and I was the proofreader. Those were the days…
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Get out! Now I’m jealous. I always wanted to meet her but the timing was never right. She was busy writing Little Women and I was busy being flakey.
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[…] Happy birthday, Charlotte […]
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Thank you for the link. ❤
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