People that seem vaguely familiar
My family history continues to grow. Last evening, I received a photo of myself, in the company of my parents AND two of my grandparents. Until recently, family photos tended to feature rare, static moments captured on a Kodak. Generally grainy, from a 6×6 frame. In this case, almost sepia (it’s a colour long admired by photo studios and not much else). Usually with a birthday cake in the foreground.
Nowadays, when everybody has a digicam close at hand, there are many more photos. Unfortunately, most will be lost during the inevitable hard drive crash. One thing about “silver salts” is that the images will outlast most of us, even if they are already older than (most of us). In yesterday’s pic, I get to see myself at the innocent age of much less than a year, which allows me to date the moment to within six months. There was no snow on the ground, and I couldn’t do much else other than squirm. In terms of dating an image, that’s precise enough.
I immediately sent the image to my kids: proof that I wasn’t always old, if nothing else. Wait until I ramp up production on my copystand. Actually, the photo was received with a great deal of enthusiasm. This might be the only time my sons will be able to put a “face” to grandparents and greats. I should be so fortunate… my greats remain a great mystery.
It’s one thing to have dates for those that came before; even better, to place them in the context of people with expressions, and (period) clothes. There’s also a car (as yet unidentified), that proves our family had made it out of the horse-and-buggy era, alive.
