Favorite Photo – Toni, Tom, and Judi
PROMPT from Amy Johnson Crow: Tell the story of a favorite photo — who is in it, when and where was it taken, and why was it taken. Remember, it doesn’t have to be a sepia-toned Victorian era photo. It could be a photo you took last week! (We are part of our own family history, after all.)
I have a lot of old photos, taken in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s given to me by other family members. However, this is one of my favorite photos. It shows my husband, Tom. his cousin Toni to his right and sister Judi to his left. I think they are sitting on the porch of their grandparents Anna and Irving in Moreau Township, Saratoga, New York around 1952. I don’t know why it was taken, other than cousins together at their grandparents home. I feel it shows the simplicity of childhood especially in that era. What fun Tom must have had with that old eggbeater and I wonder what things he’s thinking he could do with it yet? Or did someone just hand it to him at that time, just for the fun of it to make the photo? I have no way of knowing, as Tom was taken from us way too early.
After moving to Arizona, one day Tom left the arcadia door open to go outside. The summer temperatures are extreme and the air conditioner seems to run nonstop. I called out to Tom. “Close the door! Were you born in a barn”? To which he replied to me, “Well, sorta!” he told me the story of his parents living in the barn of his grandparents that they had converted to a livable space for them. We both got a laugh out of that.
In this photo I believe are Judi, his sister, Tom and his brother Mike. I think the younger child with her back to us is a cousin Mary.
Life was simple then. Even the new amusement park up the road in Lake George was simple in nature. Storytown, opened in Lake George as an amusement park themed by Mother Goose rhymes. It held different themed areas of the park such as Alice in Wonderland, Ghost Town and Jungle Land. Families walked quietly around the park, had interaction with some of the story characters and some interactive props as in the Alice of Wonderland area. Today, Storytown has been replaced by the Great Escape, one of the Six Flags experiences with roller coasters, games, crowds and lots of noise.
This weeks post was about a favorite photo. I can’t seem to write much about it, but the photo itself touches me and that’s what really matters.