Sunday, August 4, 2013

Old photos found among her things

We went through literally hundreds upon hundreds of photographs in my mom's house this last week. Some of them I snapped with my camera, wanting them to be immediately accessible, not lost once more in envelopes, albums, random piles. Here are a few.

True love

My brother and me

Four of the six sisters, cruising in Alaska

When we met

Son, fishing

Daughter, fishing

Grandson, beloved

Granddaughter, beloved

The next two photos were taken at the airport in Jamaica when Aunt Winnie (far left) was returning to New York after spending the summer with us. In those days numerous family members would turn out for your send off, standing in a cluster on the gallery and waving until the plane was out of sight. I am the chubby girl in the pink plaid dress in the center of the group, biting my nails in the first picture, anything but graceful. My brother, the thin bespectacled boy beside me, has his dukes up, as he did in all photos from that time. We were, I think, 10 and 11 years old. I am sure my mother (in red dress) told me to stand properly for the second photo, admonishing me to put my legs together and stop biting my nails. Look how perfectly I complied. But really, the girl I recognize is the one in the first photo. She is, to my eye now, awkward in her skin but appealingly full of attitude.





9 comments:

  1. They are all beautiful photos to be treasured, but I especially like the two group shots. What a little cutie you were in your bright dress, whether posing prettily or standing with attitude. :)

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  2. Oh Angella, these pictures are pure treasures. I want to go through each one and comment but I'll take up your whole blog! I LOVE your attitude picture, just LOVE it! And the 2nd one is to die for as well for all different reasons. The picture that speaks to me on this lazy Sunday afternoon is your mom and her sisters on relaxing on their cruise. And the eyes or your children and you and your man. You are all such physically beautiful people. I am really not a shallow person but it is hard not to notice. I hope your trip went as well as it could have gone given what you were doing and that you had a nice visit with your brother. Welcome home. It's nice to have you back. Sweet Jo

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  3. angella, i love looking at these and picking out the resemblances. i am so envious of your family, the warmth, the sharing, the pride. (i like that little girl in the pink dress, too--full of sass!)

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  4. These pictures are wonderful! Family photos are so precious.

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  5. Your face is exactly the same! I adore the one of you fidgeting -- and your words about it and the one that follows.

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  6. You and your brother- oh my god! You remind me so much of me and my brother when we were about that age. I, too, was a chubby thing and my brother did not put his dukes up but he signed everything in our house with the words, "Jim the Great!" and he'd end every tiny conversation with the words, "No applause, just money!"
    Now- why did that picture remind me of that? Who knows?
    The picture of you and your man when you'd just met- an entire novel in those four eyes. Ooh boy!
    Thanks for being so generous with these images.

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  7. I LOVE that photo of you. It says it all. It's glorious! Whenever I go to my grandma's house or even my mom's house, I always bring out the photos. It's amazing to see how you were and to see where you are; to see how you haven't changed and how you have.
    xoxo

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  8. I love how all the family turned out to see Aunt Winnie off! That shows your closeness, and how atypical it is (compared to my family, anyway).

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