Saturday, June 30, 2007

Ghosts of Generations Past

I am in Michigan staying with my mom until my hubby and son arrive to whisk Bella and I up to the cottage. My mom's father passed away last fall so there are boxes of pictures around which, of course, thrill me. It's bittersweet though. I see pictures of my great grandma who was so much a part of my life until she died a month after I got married and I tear up. My mom met my mother in law, one of her best friends, through their dads so there are pictures of my husband's grandfather. My husband never met his grandpa but his family tells him over and over about how much he is like his grandfather which makes him really wish he could have known him. Then there are the pictures of my grandparents in their heyday...mid 1940's. My grandpa was what they would have called a swell or a dandy and my grandma was the picture of the perfect housewife yet an earlier picture I've seen of her has a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a cigarette in the other- I was told that's how she lost a significant amount of weight for her senior year of high school. My niece looks a lot like my mom in the pictures of mom at age 6- the age Olivia will be in August.

I am praying that my husband remembered to bring his portable scanner so I can get these shots into my hard drive. NOW I have a lot of scrapbooking to do! (as if I didn't before!) The sad thing is taking them off the black paper with their beautiful corners. One book had ones I hadn't seen- they're little dots about 3/4 of an inch apart with a small line between them to hold the edges of the photos...they're great. I also found an old picture developing envelope from a set of pictures my grandma had developed before she was married that cost her 3 cents to have developed. I am going to scan that as well.

Also, while sitting waiting for laundry to finish in my mom's basement, I found another box of pictures, this time my own from college. It's strange to look at myself then and remember my resolve towards a future that looks nothing like what I have now.

I think that we have to take trips like this that are full of bittersweet memories. We remember where we've been and it helps us to appreciate what we have now. I wonder if I could do a Back to the Future type travel back in time to talk to my grandparents or even myself 15 years ago, what would I tell them? Would I give pointers about things that might make their lives better? I don't know. Life is different than any of us planned but different doesn't seem to be bad.

1 comment:

Traci Reed said...

What a fabulous entry! I too went through this a few months ago after the death of my grandmother. it's amazing to find pictures of them when they were young and in their heyday!