Me and Dad were but 5 days apart on the birthday calendar, aand today, were he here, I’d be calling to tease and say, “How is 98 feel Dad?”
There’d be that pause and a throaty left, with something like in reply, “Not bad at all, Junior.”
I had a good round of memory sifting a month ago when I took Cori to visit my home grounds Baltimore. My sister Judy hauled out a box of mostly unlabeled photos my dad’s mom had left her. We had lots of laughs and a number of puzzles trying to figure out who some of the photos were.
Those three of Dad in this post’s feature photo was him as a playful kid on likely an Atlantic City, New Jersey Beach, the middle also there with his younger sister, Eve, and their mother on the boardwalk– Dad maybe looking a little uncomfortable, and the one on the right, the dapper look likely in his high school or college days.
There’s much to be imagined, trying to guess where they were, or on what occasions. With no fact checking, we could just enjoy the vintage scenes.
My Dad’s family seemed to have done a lot with them, there were photos of them in front of an old propeller plane, maybe going to Florida to meet relatives, photos in parks or orchards. The assortment of photos is just whats left, in no way proportional to the places and times spent.
Happy day of birth, old man! I always think of you smiling best on that Ocean City beach. You are 98 on the timeline scale, I can always hear your voice back there.
Featured Image: A college of old family photos seen at my sister’s home, just captured with quickly as snapshots on the phone. Photos of old photos.
