Summer 1963
1963 Summer 1963. A trip to the beach in Cape May from
Nose Surgery and Ice Storm
A routine grocery run turns into a comedy of errors when a distracted grandparent wheels an empty cart right out of the store — while a Kroger employee chases down the family with their actual purchases.
Uncle Trevor 1974
A serial escapee from a German prison camp who earned his captor's respect over cigarettes and conversation, Uncle Trevor eventually traded wartime Europe for 600 acres of tea farming in the Transvaal mountains.
Moving to Springmoor
Moving to Springmoor. After 38 years in the house, Mom and I
Karen’s College Trip
From ‘The Adventures of The McGaffin’s As We Remember Them’ — a family memoir begun July 17, 2003.
1979
From ‘The Adventures of The McGaffin’s As We Remember Them’ — a family memoir begun July 17, 2003.
Patches
From ‘The Adventures of The McGaffin’s As We Remember Them’ — a family memoir begun July 17, 2003.
The McGaffin Family Origins
From Scotland to Northern Ireland to London, the McGaffin family kept moving — until Peter McConky McGaffin, widowed and raising several children alone, took a headmaster post in Mossel Bay and planted the family's roots in South Africa for good.
On to America
A delayed ship and dwindling funds scrapped the family's California plans — but a chance sighting of a Bell Labs sign from the deck, and an Irish attendant's kindness at Ellis Island, set a whole new course in motion.
Shelagh Ellen Kavanagh - The Pre-Years
Born in 1903 Cape Town, Shelagh Ellen Kavanagh was nicknamed "Patty" by her Irish father — and it stuck for life. One of seven children, she grew up climbing Table Mountain and playing tennis before leaving the city and her beloved sister Nonny behind.
Life at 625 Rockview Avenue
At 625 Rockview Avenue, forgetting the basement water heater meant a dramatic burst of steam — and in a house still cooled by an icebox with deliveries from the Iceman, daily life ran on its own unhurried, unpredictable rhythm.
Born in Brooklyn - The 1930s Begin
A newborn sleeps in a dresser drawer in a Flatbush Avenue apartment — and six weeks later, a coworker's advice sends the young family across the river to a tiny cluster of homes in Gillette, New Jersey.