Janet Tanner Perry
As children in Tanner Manor, we had lots of space to grow up
I'm Janet, and this is my family (minus my oldest two sisters Bobbe and Athelia and my baby brother Bryan who wasn't born yet). We're sitting on the entry-hall staircase of Tanner Manor, and that's me as a newborn baby in one of the few baby pictures I own. As the twelfth child, I evened out the count of girls to boys...until Bryan, the last of the bunch, was born, and we became "that family with 13 kids"--a baker's dozen.
Nowadays, most people claim more than one childhood home. In fact, that's the case for most of my own siblings. Not so for me. I joined the family in 1962, shortly after my parents miraculously purchased and moved into Tanner Manor, and we lived there until Mom and Dad sold the place the year before I left home for college. So, I like to think the story of Tanner Manor is my story. Both the house and the people in it made me who I am today.
Sometimes I yearn to return to to Tanner Manor, even for one day. Instead, I am using this site to help me return figuratively. Others who loved the place and how they felt there are welcome to join me.
I have never felt quite complete without having some books close by
I learned to love words and stories early in life. When I was young, most girls I knew collected dolls or stuffed animals. I collected words. I hunted down homonyms and captured them in a little notebook, I memorized new vocabulary words and tried to use them in everyday conversation, and I copied my favorite quotes on 3x5 cards and filed them in a shoebox. And my favorite job around the house was dusting the oak shelves of our library. There, I spent countless hours captivated by novels and lost in pages of encyclopedias. (Even now, when I need to feel centered, I go to the library.)
Words were my friends! They helped me make sense of my world and my big, loud, crazy, loving family. Today, words are still a big part of my world, and now they're helping me tell my Tanner Manor stories.
My Tanner Tribe
I love the way this photo captures so much of our different personalities
These days, it's trendy to "find your tribe" in order to be happier, healthier, stronger. My parents had this figured out decades ago when they created a tribe of their own, the Tanner Tribe. We were always free to be ourselves but fiercely proud to belong, and the early confidence and security borne of such belonging shows on my face (front and center).
Looking at us getting ready for this family portrait gives you a tiny glimpse into what it was like to grow up in Tanner Manor. The older siblings loved and looked out for us younger ones. (They still do.) Getting us all dressed in our finest must have been a gargantuan task for Mom. (Notice she's not in this picture...yet.) Getting us to stand still and be quiet was usually Dad's job. ("Too many chiefs and not enough Indians," he'd often say, somewhat proudly but exasperated.) Getting all 15 of us together was nigh unto impossible. In fact, most of my life Mom would tell people our entire family had only been together for eight days. And she was right. When we took this picture, my sister Athelia, the second oldest, was in France serving a church mission.
Looking at us getting ready for this family portrait gives you a tiny glimpse into what it was like to grow up in Tanner Manor. The older siblings loved and looked out for us younger ones. (They still do.) Getting us all dressed in our finest must have been a gargantuan task for Mom. (Notice she's not in this picture...yet.) Getting us to stand still and be quiet was usually Dad's job. ("Too many chiefs and not enough Indians," he'd often say, somewhat proudly but exasperated.) Getting all 15 of us together was nigh unto impossible. In fact, most of my life Mom would tell people our entire family had only been together for eight days. And she was right. When we took this picture, my sister Athelia, the second oldest, was in France serving a church mission.
Mom, looking great as always, made it for the final picture. The rest of us settled down long enough to look at the camera.
"Herding cats" was the reality of having 13 children spanning almost 22 years. But no matter how many of us were together, I always loved the chaos, the noise, the laughter, the learning, the closeness, and the fun. (I still do.)
Of course, our times of being all together are even fewer now since we have families of our own. We fell short of Dad's plan to have 100 grandchildren, but we came pretty close by giving him 78, and many of them have children. At last count, our ranks had swelled to over 300. So, when we take family pictures now, everyone is herding cats. And I still love it.
Of course, our times of being all together are even fewer now since we have families of our own. We fell short of Dad's plan to have 100 grandchildren, but we came pretty close by giving him 78, and many of them have children. At last count, our ranks had swelled to over 300. So, when we take family pictures now, everyone is herding cats. And I still love it.