Friday Family Stories

Todays Friday Family Story goes way back, 82 1/2 years if we’re counting, to a photo of my mom as a little girl.  The text reads:  

My mom, at 2 1/2 years old.  Today would have been her 83rd birthday.  I am so very very lucky to have multiple photo albums full of pictures of my mother and her family.  They were quite a bunch!  Slowly, we are going through the treasures.  I love this photo for the picture of my mom with her dolly carriage mostly because it’s of her, with something she loved, her dolls.  I also love this because it sets time and place.  My mom always had a lovely coat and sometimes hat in photos and always cute outfits.  And saddle shoes (!) and it seems very modern that she’s wearing pants!  And that wicker doll carriage?  I have it, in my attic.  Mom gave it to me years ago when we had an old victorian house… she thought I could use it for decoration because it was…Victorian.  Love it, love her and so happy to have treasures such as these.  

Happy Birthday Mom.

There is a struggle with old photos where we don’t know the exact details of the photograph. Why bother to keep them when we don’t know the story?  We can however tell a story that links the past to the present even without knowing the details.  I don’t know where this was taken, although I can probably guess it was somewhere around their home at the time in Peekskill, NY.  I don’t know who took it, my grandfather or one of the uncles?  Or if it signifies some specific event, April is not my mom’s birth month so it would not be a photo commemorating her birthday.  It could very well just be a picture of my mom being adorable (and honestly, from the expression on her face, it looks like the photo shoot may have been going on for awhile…).  But what I do know is how I feel about the photograph, and the memories it evokes for me.  I can add my observations surrounding the photograph (the garments she’s wearing and that she loved her dolls) and contemporary details that link me with my mom (the doll carriage that I now have).   I invite you to take a new look at your photographs and see what kinds of stories you can tell from an image that you previously thought was silent.  Let the photo speak to you, you will be surprised what it has to say.  

As you can see, telling your story doesn’t have to involve loads of photos or pages and pages of text (unless that is what you want, then go for it!)  One story, simply told as part of your family story.    Want help telling your family story?  Modern Memorykeeper can help you tell your stories while preserving your family memories.  Let us show you how!

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Friday Family Stories is a weekly blog series demonstrating how to pair your photos with their stories,  catching fleeting moments to share with those that matter most