TIMES PASSED

I drove from my home in Carmel Indiana 45 minutes north to Kokomo (where I grew up) to visit my mother.  From time to time I find I must return home to find some peace of mind.  It clears my mind a little of the mundane of my routine setup of going to work and home and back to work.  In between my vacations I must find time to reconnect with home and my mother and grandmother.  Today, while visiting with my grandmother, I was fortunate to have had several photos shown to me.  This particular photo above is a few generations of great grandmothers.  I had never known any of these women.  And yet the image reached out and touched my heart, showing me that there is indeed a continuity and legacy that we do leave behind.  There is so much I enjoy about old photos.  So many memories in some and in others I am left to use my imagination to compel me to wonder.

This one was taken in 1904 of my great grandmother as a child and her auntie.  It still amazes me when I see that not many people smiled.  I'm certain that photos were more complicated to produce back then and required people to sit still longer and perhaps caused some impatience and frustration of having to sit immobile waiting for the photograhpher to capture the pefect shot without anyone moving.  And then there is also the teeth issue.  Many Victorians, as well as those in the early 20th century, did not have an attractive smile due to poor teeth.  Or maybe they just didn't have much to smile about.  I can understand in this photo how the adult managed a frustrating grimace.  But why wasn't the toddler smiling?  Perhaps to keep her still she may have had her hand slapped more than a few times until she sat still for the photographer to take that photo. 

This is my great grandfather in the early 1900's, probably around 1908, enjoying the company of several pets.  I don't remember much about my great grandfather.  However, I do remember he loved ice cream.  He loved children and he had a kind and generous spirit.  Seeing these photos today took me to a different time impressing upon my heart the importance of the preservation of these old photos.  My grandmother told me today that the only thing she would want to save in her home if there was a fire were her photos.  She said this because furniture and material goods can be replaced.  However the original old photos cannot be replaced.  Certainly, we can scan them and put them online.  Still, to have the tangible photo in hand and feel a piece of history, is important to me.~~Lana~~