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06
Nov

Memories of my Grandmother, Sparked by a Single Old Photograph

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I’ve been thinking lots about my paternal grandmother lately as I’ve been pondering next steps for my life and vocation. Formidable and unflappable, the only daughter among nine children, she was unusually well educated for a woman of her class and station. She was a mother of six, only five of whom lived past childhood. A […]

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01
Nov

Memories Came Rushing Back When My Grandmother Held This Old Photo

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These hands are 95 years old. This summer, I asked my grandmother to tell me about this picture of her at 22. As she touched the image as though she could feel the raised lace of her collar, she told me, “I bought this dress uptown in Alva, Oklahoma, with Aunt Laura, whose farm south […]

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31
Oct

My Mother, a Real Rosie the Riveter

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This image never fails to make me think about my mom, a true ‘Rosie the Riveter’ if there ever was one. She never needed to ask for anyone’s help. If something needed to be done, she just did it. My brother and I wanted to be Batman and Robin for Halloween. So, she made us […]

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25
Oct

Family Fun with Vintage Photo Booth Portraits

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I’m continuing to scan old family photos. It is such a big job, but one I am really enjoying. The photo booth pictures tend to be some of my favorites! This is my grandma Hallie and her sister Margie. They used to speak pig latin in front of my mom so she would not know […]

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21
Oct

The Photograph That Changed the Course of My Life

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My parents on their wedding day. This is the photo that made me want to shoot weddings. How, in one sheet of film (4×5 camera), did this photographer capture the unity of these two in the first moment of their new marriage? Their feet are perfectly in step. Their arms are linked. They burst from […]

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18
Oct

A Simple Portrait of a Gentle, Beautiful Woman

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My Grandmother, Merylee Alice, was such a gentle and beautiful woman. She had the softest hands I have ever touched. I love this capture of her with a fern. I wonder if she liked to collect things as she hiked through the woods like I do. I don’t know anything about where this photograph was […]

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17
Oct

An Unusual Moment Captured in our Family Photographs

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My grandmother and great-grandmother out for what I believe to have been a mothers’ day dinner circa 1960-something. Grandma laughed often, but was typically more self conscious in front of a camera. This glimpse of her at ease is an unusual moment in our family photos! It is from my grandmother that I inherited my […]

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16
Oct

An Old Family Picture of a Girl Who Would Become “Goose”

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This photograph was taken in 1949 in Athens, GA. It was used as promotional material for the University of Georgia and the woman standing in front of the mirror is my grandmother, Terry Mathews, otherwise known as “Goose” to her 8 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren and a handful of others who adopted the name as […]

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15
Oct

My Father Was Once Young and Full of Life, as Seen in this Old Photo

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My Father tossing the football at his family’s Long Island home circa 1952. My Father was an athlete. He played football, baseball, golf and excelled in all of them. He once had a strong, intimidating build with the patience of a saint. Over the past 40 years, Dad has slowly deteriorated from brain damage he […]

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12
Oct

Childhood Memories Rediscovered in one Old Photograph from Family Archives

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How’s this for a spooky October photograph? This is my mother, Linda (far right) and her cousins dressed up as mice in October 1962 in Point Au Baril, Ontario. My mother was an only child, but she didn’t suffer from OCS (Only child syndrome). In fact, growing up she was incredibly close with her parents, […]

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