Wordy Wednesday - 12 December 2012

This is my Uncle Steve.  The story behind this slightly crooked photo is that it was taken by my mom, his younger sister, who was due to have a baby soon - the first of the 3 siblings to have a child.

He had been away and while he was gone, my mom had me (unexpectedly - a few weeks early) and no one told him.  When he got home, he went to visit with his sister, she was in her bedroom supposedly resting.  On his way to the bedside, he walked past the bassinet and this is the look on his face when he realized there was a baby in it!  That baby was me, and my mom managed to snap this wonderful picture from the bed.

Surprises like that aren't easy to pull off any more - we're so intimately connected with everyone.  It's a lovely picture that I'm so grateful to have!

That Day I Fell Out of an Airplane

The picture below shows me and my Uncle Steve (my mother's brother). It was taken in 1972 in Miami, Florida.

As a little girl, when I would see this picture in our photo album, I was told that I had fallen out of an airplane, and my Uncle Steve was fortunately there to catch me. :-) Best story ever!!



If you look closely, you can see the old-school pacifier I wore on a ribbon around my neck. My mom tells me that one day, I put it somewhere safe, and the spot was so safe that no one ever saw it again. I'm also told that one day I took her wedding ring and stowed it safely outside in the yard in the grass. Amazingly (and the reason that I am still alive to tell the tale), the ring was found!

Anyway, back to the picture - if you squint and look even more closely, you can see that I have an actual real-life diaper pin holding my diaper on! Now there's something you don't see around, unless you watch old Bugs Bunny or Three Stooges episodes. I remember those diaper pins, they were big and had a plastic or metal cover on the one end that was pastel-y in color (I guess so it didn't look so much like a safety pin).

I'm so happy to have this picture!!

Remember This Picture When They Are Fighting

One of the 8,424 pictures my sister took of my niece and nephew for Easter is below (gotta love digital cameras!).


Awww, so sweet, isn't it?

When I saw it though, I immediately thought of a picture of my mom and her brother:


To me it was just a little reminder that really we humans are all connected, no matter how different we like to think we are!

Also, I wished that my nephew had been standing on my niece's foot just so the circle could be complete, but hey, you can't have everything! :-)

Brother and Sister - Smile for the Camera 11

The 11th edition of Smile for the Camera is themed "Brothers & Sisters."

"Were they battling brothers, shy little sisters, or was it brother & sister against the world? Our ancestors often had only their siblings for company. Were they best friends or not? Show us that picture that you found with your family photographs or in your collection that shows your rendition of brothers & sisters. Bring them to the carnival and share. Admission is free with every photograph!"

My picture is my mom and her brother. It was taken in July of 1950 in New York, probably somewhere around the Ithaca region. My grandparents were living in a little trailer at that point, with their 2 young children, moving around a lot. My mom and uncle were only 13 months apart; in this picture he was just over 3 years old, and she was just over 2 years old.

The story goes that my mom was crying (and when I say crying, I mean the toddler type WAAAAHHHHHHH crying) because she wanted to be picked up by her Daddy, but he was busy taking pictures. There is even a picture of her just prior to this shot, standing there facing the camera, feet firmly planted on the ground, little fists by her sides, just wailing because the world was a horrible place, and who are these people that are not doing what she wants??? :-D It's actually quite similar to the way I act in the meetings my co-workers insist on scheduling after 4pm when they know, they KNOW, I come in early, unlike all of them. But I digress! :-)

What I've posted today is the next picture, where her big brother has come to comfort her.


But wait!!! Take a closer look at the photo, yes, he is a sweet big brother, so caring, so loving. Take a look towards the bottom of the picture, towards.............their feet.

He's standing on her foot while he comforts her.

I'm pretty sure it's some sort of deep metaphor on brotherly and sisterly love, but today I'll just take it for what it is - sweet and funny.

(I love you and miss you Uncle Steve!!!!!!!!!!)