Lessons from a photo album

Recently one of my cousins found some (photo) slides that belonged to my grandparents. For you that don't remember slides, in the 40's to the 60's, many people used Kodachrome film which produced film POSITIVES, not negatives. Instead of printing them on paper, they were delivered in little cardboard frames which you put into trays and viewed them using a projector. Holidays meant that someone would haul out the projector and screen and we would all view everyone's slides. So, when my cousin found and scanned some of these oldies, I couldn't wait to see them. And in reviewing them I learned some things, which I'll share with you.

1) Though we probably take 1000's more pictures than we used to, we don't look at them like we used to. When is the last time you looked at your own photos, much less someone elses?

1b) Looking at old photos is more fun in a group where you can say "remember when...."

2) Our parents, grandparents, and even our great-grandparents used to be young and active. And in a blink, we are old and feeble. Remember that EVERY DAY.

3) Though they didn't have "time-saving appliances" they had time to have fun-throw parties, dance, laugh and drink. Sometimes excessively (at least mine).

4) I enjoy looking at these old photos, even when I don't know some (or all) of the people in them.

5) No matter how well exposed, no matter how beautiful, no matter how perfect, I don't care about the vacation photos with no people in them. Even the ones where I knew where they were taken.

6) No matter how poorly exposed, no matter how blurry or crazy, I love the pictures of people I know having fun. I like remembering that their lives were (at least sometimes) filled with joy.

7) My family left a legacy- a biography of their lives in these photos. What will my decendents learn about me (about you) from our photos?

photos- all taken around 1955-60 near Lesterville, MO. Top, my grandmother, Lorraine Pershall. Next, a jeep ride with my grandfather driving and my grandma all the way in the back with their dog, Pal. I have no idea who anyone else is (though that one lady looks CRANKY) The last photo, starting from the left, my grandmother with a haircut I'm sure she hated, Margaret and Harold Baker (owned the general store in Lesterville), unknown lady with a beer, then Margaret Ludwig (my grandma's cousin and the best pie baker in the world) and her husband Henry.