“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”
— from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
1) I slept in until about 7 AM, which in this house is late. About two hours later Laura and I got started on the photos again. Reflecting on it now, my head is a kaleidoscope of family, places, colors, costumes, and some bad fashion.
1a) Every time I use the word kaleidoscope I have to look it up. And every time I mispell it. It’s an O in the middle — kaleidOscope. Don’t forget, Robert.
June, 1962: My grandparents with their children and spouses. From left to right: Mef, John, Joan, Tom, Grampa, Clinton, Eleanor, Granny, Hutch, Betty, Daddy, Mother.
2) Laura had already disassembled some of Mother’s albums, so I had stacks and stacks of photos to go through, many from the 1970s. And very many of those didn’t age well. I don’t just mean from a fashion viewpoint, but the colors in so many of them had muddied over the decades. I ended up discarding a lot. I started by putting things into three piles: scan, keep, and toss; Laura plans to review the toss pile at her leisure in case she wants anything. But the first two ended up blending, and Laura will scan what she wants.
2a) We discarded a lot of their vacation pictures, too. Those were important for them, but less for me.
Daddy just picked up the camera one morning and stood in front of Mother and called her name. This was the result.
3) But there were many treasures, including Daddy’s favorite picture of Mother in those years, photos from our Christmas in London, our “Roots” trip to Minnesota to meet Mother’s family in 1977, business ceremonies and functions, news clippings (everyone in the family ended up in the paper at least once, particularly Mother), countless family holidays and reunions and other gatherings. Not just the Dimmicks, either, or the Evanses, but plenty of photos from the Thorsons and the Houskas.
My mother’s parents when they were courting. Gramma once told me she was courted in every Chinese restaurant in the Twin Cities.
4) Anyone who’s been through this process knows how emotional it can be. Some things are wonderful to remember, and some things are not. Nothing can be altered at this point — see quote above — and I don’t see a way to alter my regrets either, at things I did and didn’t do.
5) Even so, we had more laughs than gnashing of teeth. But the one item that brought tears to my eyes was Mother’s bride’s book. White leatherette stamped in gold with a bouquet, it includes records and souvenirs of her bridal shower, the many engagement parties, the gifts (of course!), all the wedding guests, press announcements, and several letters I haven’t looked at yet.
6) I thought I had all of Gramma’s photo albums and had lost the most important one (“Courtship”), so I was both relieved and a tiny bit annoyed that Laura had it, as well as some others. They yielded wonderful photographs of Mother’s family, as well as the news clipping of Gramma and Grampa Al’s surprise Leap Day wedding. And baby pictures of Uncle Bill and Mother!
7) About 3:10 PM I had to succumb to a NAP — but by 4:30 I was clean and dressed presentably for family dinner. Niece Who Must Not Be Tagged and her boyfriend, who I had yet to meet, joined us for some of Laura’s good étouffée. Listening to Tony and the boyfriend talk about cars (specifically Mustangs), motorcycles, and tech, I felt like I got a bit of an education. Megan also gave me my Christmas present — chicory coffee is always welcome! — and just in time, since her 25th birthday is in a couple weeks.
7a) Besides kaleidoscope, I also have to look up etouffée every time I use it.
Uncle Bill, teenage shutterbug.
8) Tomorrow morning we may look at some old Kodachrome slides, but Laura and I will drive into the city tomorrow for a good lunch in the Quarter, and my Southern Sweep will continue.
9) Interesting — we didn’t take any photos tonight.
