Saturday, September 18, 2010

Grandma, Long Ago

This is a picture of Brian's grandma that I came across and I'm so taken by it. I love her open expression, her smile, her relaxed pose. She's beautiful, without attempting to be. I love that. When I look at her image, like any other photo taken so long ago, I wonder what she's thinking about, what her aspirations and hopes are at this point, what her story is in this moment. Is she married yet? Does she have children? What are her interests, her hobbies, her passions?

It's difficult to imagine people other than how we currently see them, especially if we didn't know them before now. But, with photos like this, we have clues to who someone might have been. Based on how friendly and open she appears in this image, I'd be so happy to meet her younger self. But that isn't much of a surprise, as I feel so fortunate to know her now.

1 comment:

  1. Jen, that was a very nice piece you wrote about grandma. I really enjoyed it and found it very interesting. When that picture was taken she was about 29 or 30 years old. They were in the middle of building the house that Sandy lives in now.She was sitting on the back porch which was not finished. Sandy and I were 9 and 10 years old. Kit.

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