Family History Activity

Over the weekend, my niece told me that she as having a hard time scanning the old family photos she had borrowed from Grandmama.  She has two little girls now and I remember well the constant needs little people have when you are the care giver.  She had brought them hoping I could help her with this project of scanning all the old photos she had borrowed.  She had brought four boxes with her and --secretly, as Grandmama wasn't thrilled with loaning out these old family photos in the first place--I brought them home and started scanning.

Lucky for me Monday was a holiday from school and my primary job was to get everyone's laundry done because it gave me the while day, pretty much, to work on this.  I did it.  These  are the kind of photos I was scanning:

They are pretty great, aren't they?  So many are from Johannesburg or Cape Town and they show the "black" side of the family.  I think it is fascinating.  I think the photos are lovely as just old pictures too, but these people are somehow connected to us--at least to my husband and kids.  Now the real work starts as we try to piece together the lines that take us there on paper to what the photos already show us.

Lessons Learned

I love this photo.  Obviously it is older--I mean, who wears these kind of outfits anymore?  And I suspect it might be foreign...but that is a guess.

The idea this photo expresses is what I love.  This woman in red is self-secure and very confident.  She holds her head high and walks with purpose.  All the other little ladies on the sidewalk are looking at her, and I can imagine the envy and self-doubt they are experiencing.  Their expressions are pretty great.  And rather telling.

Or it might just be the inner rage they feel when you see the lady in red's eighteen inch waist in that dress.  If I were out walking with these other ladies, I might want to grab her by the shoulders and force her to eat a Twinkie, or ten.

Reprieve

For those of you keeping score, my memory issues were simply too many things for too many days in a row. That said, my apppointment with my friend is this morning, and I happily will meet her on time.  So there, Mr Alzheimer.

For whatever that is worth.

Today's post is just for fun.  I have been catching up on some scrapbooking--now that a Hobby Lobby has moved nearby and I can once again find the scrapbook supplies I have been desiring.  As a result, I was digging through the pile of photos to put them into some kind of chronological order, when I found these little treasures:

Dress Up fun with the "A" family...Melanie, Christian, and Margo.

Lil' Cowboys...on imaginary and stick horses...with Mr. Y

Back when the cousins were still fun...or at least smiling together.

And this?  Well, some train wrecks show up in your dreams when you least expect them.

A Photo Tag

To give my soapbox and political leanings a break today, I am going to play along with a tag that I have seen now on at least Dear Friend Kellie's blog and Dear Friend Peggy's blog in the past little while.

The point is to dig into an old photo folder on your computer. You look at the fourth folder, and post the fourth file for all to see. Hmmmm....Let's see...My photo folders are a bit, well, oddly organized, but here is the offering for you Dear Readers:

Poor kid. Yep, that is me.

It is my first day in first grade at my first elementary school. My kindergarten picture, the year before, shows my long-to-the-waist length hair. Then the Olympics began and I desperately wanted a Dorothy Hamill haircut. Obviously, it was DESPERATE. Look at me!? But you gotta love the 70s.

I began scanning in old family photos, including those of me as a kid, for a yet unattempted family history project. But pictures are scanned, so I will eventually get to it. 'Eventual' being the operative word here.

Happy Friday, Friends! Have a great weekend.