Next time you read this column, it will be 2014 and we expect by then everyone will have compiled their list of resolutions for the New Year. Do people still make resolutions?
But before 2014, there are a few “pending” items on my to-do list for the end of 2013. Maybe you have a similar list – if you can find it. For me, and other senior citizens, one of the most important things on this list is to identify and organize all the family photographs. Of all my brothers and sisters, I may be the only one who knows who some of these old-fashioned looking people are. It’s time to record the stories and information so these pictures can come to life.
That woman in the long black skirt (and an apron), with her hair pulled back in a severe bun – she was born near Copenhagen, traveled to Canada by ship, came to Portland via a covered wagon pulled by horses and finally, to Windham to raise her family. I notice that on the back of the picture, written in pencil, it says, “Marm with her cat.” She’s my great-grandmother, Marie Jorgensen. Every generation of our family has at least one daughter with a middle name of “Marie.”
The gent sitting on the old granite steps of his Windham house, holding a small dog, obviously didn’t like getting his picture taken. The smoke is curling from his pipe and he appears to be taking a break – perhaps from working in the nearby barn. Few would know that when he bought this farm, part of the payment included providing the seller with many tons of hay, and at that time he didn’t own any farm equipment – no tractor, just horsepower.
A picturesque photo of Boothbay Harbor with a tall lanky young man staring at the many-sailed ships is marked “Dad in B.H.” He must have been visiting his grandparents that day, as by this time he was living in Gorham and attending Gorham High School. Few would recognize this teenager with the shock of black hair as Fred Kelley. Most remember him building houses or teaching school in Windham.
Here’s a faded picture showing a field, about 10 cows of all sizes, and four young children, the girls with bobbed haircuts and the boys wearing strange caps. These are some of my mother’s cousins, rounding up the cows to get them back to the old barn on Webb Road. This pasture is now filled with houses and has some kind of fancy “development” name.
From faded old sepia snapshots, some about 2 inches square, to computer-generated four color images, the history of several families come to life when a little history is recorded. This old collection holds wonderful memories of tales told over and over again, down through the decades. Future generations can have a real-life American history lesson.
We’re sure some of you have boxes of pictures, and many albums, too, and hope that they’re all identified including approximate year. We are sure that in the not too far-away future, “hard copy” photos will be non-existent and illustrated memories will require a machine of some sort. We seniors owe it to our descendants to provide as much information as we can about who they are and where they came from.
Kay Soldier welcomes reader ideas for column topics of interest to seniors. She can be reached by email at kso48@aol.com, or write to 114 Tandberg Trail, Windham, ME 04062.
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