Just Life

Throwback Thursday | 78 Years.

This photo has been sitting for months in a draft post. the planned follow-up to a post I shared last spring about family treasures from Mother’s side of the family. Draft posts aren’t really my thing – I like to publish the posts as I write them; I rarely even schedule a post to share a day later.

a collection of old photos from Daddy’s childhood

But I guess the time is finally right to tell this story. I took that collection of photographs home with me last March promising to have them scanned so we could all have copies. Of course I still need to do that, so I brought the collection back down with me. And yesterday we sorted through more albums, boxes and envelopes and found a few dozen favorites. I scanned, edited and printed them so we can make a photo board for Saturday’s visitation.

What struck me as I was sorting through the printed photos today is how well they tell the story Daddy told of his life when he wrote his obituary last summer (to be published only in his hometown paper; you can read it on-line here). Here are few of my favorites.

on the steps of his grandmother’s house (the same house featured in this story)
1946
Daddy was the quarterback on his high school football team
Mother & Daddy – 1965 (this is one of the photos Betty brought with her last weekend)
October 1987 – Mother threw a surprise party to celebrate his 50th birthday
1996 – at a Texaco executive meeting – that’s Daddy riding the bull!
Mother & Daddy in Newfoundland (one of their many train and boat trips)
Mother & Daddy in Cuba – they went there on a train tour (the trip was only approved because it was educational)
Daddy’s 75th birthday – he couldn’t have been happier with that backdrop!

I now have a renewed energy around getting all my old photos sorted and scanned. I’ve heard good things about Scan Cafe, but would appreciate any other recommendations or advice. Thank you!

15 thoughts on “Throwback Thursday | 78 Years.”

  2. These are amazing photos! I was happy to learn more about your father (and travels with your mother) with each photo as I scrolled down. I'm especially touched that he wrote his own obituary. I had to write my mother's and worried that it didn't say what she would have wanted (and she would not have been shy about letting me know that if she had read it!), but I think it takes a special kind of courage and realism to just go ahead and write your own. I'll be thinking about you and your family in the coming days.

  5. Those are great photos, thank you for sharing them and the stories that go along with them. I remember Vicki had a lot of photos scanned a while back, you might check with her for a recommendation.

  6. You have so many wonderful photos and memories of your father. Thank you for sharing pictures of his life with us. Having them scanned to a disc is a wonderful way to share them with other family members. My Scan Cafe disc pictures are so clear and beautifully preserved and you can have one made for each person in the family.

  7. What a treasure trove! And many thanks for sharing these photos; I loved the one of your dad reading the newspaper and riding the bull, priceless. As Margene says, a disc for family members is a gift that will be treasured. Peace, my friend.

  9. I enjoyed reading about your father-he had a wonderful life! It is so nice you have these pictures. I'm looking for a way to scan slides-I have boxes of them. Walgreens does 24 at a time for about $20 and I wonder if there is a better way? I've never heard of Scan Cafe and will check them out.

  13. There are few treasures as wonderful as photos (in my humble opinion). I used Scan Cafe and they did a good job. It was very easy to send them in, and I like the variety of ways that they can be stored/accessed.

  14. What wonderful photos, Mary. Such a great little glimpse of your dad's life! (I'm preparing a shipment for ScanCafe, based on Margene's and Vicki's positive experiences. I'm hoping to get it shipped out before the end of the year. I'm slow. . . )

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