On my lazy, rainy Sunday I had a few really good moments while digging through a storage box full of my mother's photos and paper mementos. This photo (from 1972) was taken at my Grandfather's 70th birthday party. He's the second from the right...handsome guy! In this photo we have his wife, his three daughters and their husbands...and all the cousins except one. I'm the groovy girl in the middle. The one who looks like she belongs in an episode of Little House on the Prairie.... My grandparents, aunts and uncles have all passed. My parents have been apart for years. And it's been decades since I've seen most of my cousins...so this photo really struck a chord deep in my heart. I'm pretty sure this is the last time we were all together.
AND!!!!
I found a copy of this photo of my dad - a photo I knew I had somewhere, but couldn't find! This was taken when he was in France in the 50's for his military service. Such a gorgeous shot of my sweet daddy!
As I was dealing with this box of photos, I found a few old albums ... those awful old magnetic albums which are full of acid and lignin - the chemicals that ruin photos!! I thought I'd gotten rid of all of them! So I'll take this opportunity to make a random public service announcement! It's so important that photos NOT be stored in albums like these. Or in those old black albums our grandparents used. If you don't have time to scan them, or transfer them to photo safe albums, take the time to remove them and store them in those photo boxes you can find at any craft or office supply store. Please! Save your photos!!
The most fun I had in this box, was finding a folder full of great-great-grandmother-style photos and a typed out family history. Tucked into the folder was this book mark. Such a mystery! Did a relative stitch it? Receive it as a gift? Was it actually made in 1876? Lots of questions...no answers. The only thing I know is that it is very delicate...crumbling a bit. There are teeny-tiny stitches that form the date, stitched right into the paper. It's so pretty!! Couldn't resist getting a few macro shots of the details...
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