Vivian Maupin and Roy Long 1918

Roy Long, 3rd from the left

The photo below just says the woman on the left is Vivian, but I believe this was the summer she was pregnant with Dad. It's a part of a photo with a large group of young people. I was happy to find it because I had often wondered what it must have been like for her in 1918 to be pregnant and unmarried. This photo at least tells me she wasn't locked away in an attic. At first, it shocked us that our father, LeRoy Long, was born out of wedlock. But, his father Roy Milton Long had left for World War I and couldn't really make an honest woman out of Vivian Maupin until he returned in 1919.
We also have the crocheted cap that Annie Reed made dad as an infant. Mom left the note that the star was in the top of the cap because his dad was a soldier over-seas. This tells me that despite the "inconvenience" of his birth, he was loved and cherished.
The photo above shows the cap was worn quite a bit---it's soiled around the edges. The glasses were also Dad's when he was very little. I don't think LeRoy Long is wearing the hat below, but here he is in 1919, probably.

Although we don't have any letters between Vivian and Roy, we do have this souvenir made out of silk.

And, he did bring the doll on the right back to Vivian from France.
Maybe someone else in the family has letters between them. We do have post-cards from Roy to his parents, and he never indicates any friction. But, that's another blog.