Photos

Friday Photo is a writing prompt to get me thinking about writing.  Well, it happens to be Sunday now, and I am just getting around to posting this.  Does it count that I started it on Friday?  I think so.

 

I love looking at the old photos in my collection. They are such a peep-hole into the past. What is even more amazing is my mother can look at the photos and remember what color the dress was or where she was going. She has that kind of memory. Me on the other hand, I cannot even remember who my college roommates names are. So, when I get together with my mom I usually will have questions for her about a photo.

 

Family Vacation
Pipestem, West Virginia

This week I posted this photo on Facebook for Throw Back Thursday, a prompt started on Facebook to show people old pictures of ourselves. My mom, true to form was able to tell me where the photo was taken and also that she had made the pants that she wore in this picture.

Never did I know that our family took a vacation to Pipestem, West Virginia. Since it is 2014, I promptly typed that name into my internet browser and found the state park my mother was talking about. My mother reminisced about how my older brother David was stung by a bee and “screamed like the devil.” My younger brother, Joe, approximately 3 years old at the time, went horseback riding.

What are some of your favorite vacation memories?

Humor

What does it mean to be funny or witty?  I think both are different types of humor.  What part does humor play in our family?  Where do we get our sense of humor?

“Humor: The ability to laugh at any mistake you survive.” ~Jerry Tucker

“Humor must not professedly teach, and it must not professedly preach, but it must do both if it would live forever.”
– Mark Twain in Eruption

My family cracks jokes (teases) with each other often.  It was one of the first things I warned Cheryl about was that if we tease you, it is because we like you.  Cheryl did not really seem to understand this logic.  I think it took Dee Dee a while to understand it was our family’s way.  But, it is.  I do not know where we got it from because neither of my parents teases in this way.  Don’t get me wrong, my parents are fun and humorous people.  But, they do not use teasing as a way of expressing themselves.

I have this picture of my grandparents, Lacy and Odelle, dressed up for some type of party.  It makes me smile.  Where are they going?  I am not sure, but they both look like they are ready for a good time.  Lacy has a pipe and some suspenders.  My grandfather passed away when I was very young (11 years old), but I always remembered him as a jokester.  I know I have written about it before about his wiggling his ears, etc.

 

Lacy and Odelle embracing the funnier side of life

My grandmother was not as silly as my grandfather, but she enjoyed a good time.  I remember her laughing a lot.  I wonder if that is what she saw in my grandfather.

My Uncle Don is a funny guy as well.  He would honk to cows when we were younger and is always jovial.  He would place bets with my mother on golf and they would sign and date bills.  They both kept them for years.  He even made a shrine of them one time.

The Shrine

Don and Leah paying homage

Who else was funny or has a great sense of humor in our family?  If you have a story, please share.

 

Friday Funny

Fred Augustus Whitehead was my paternal grandfather.  He was born 10 May 1901 in Madison County, Georgia.  This post isn’t about his biography.  We will do that another day.

It was my understanding that Fred was gregarious.  I am not sure where this photograph was taken.  It doesn’t look like Chicago.  So, I would suspect it came from Georgia.  I can only imagine the scene.  He is in his undershirt, his pants are pulled up to look like shorts and he appears to be smoking a cigar.  It is interesting that there are so few pictures from this time period and I have this one with him acting silly.

 

Fred Whitehead

I also have a picture of him dressed up in authentic Mexican garb but this time his wife, Margaret, dressed up as well.  I am not sure where these took place.  But, it makes me happy to see pictures of people having fun.  A lot of the old black and white pictures showed very serious faces and poses.

Fred Whitehead

Margaret Kersten Whitehead

Many people have said that I am gregarious as well.  I have never met a stranger is what they say.  In fact, I met who would become my best friend on an airplane.

I wonder what other traits we get from our parents and grand-parents.  Some we might not even know.

Until later, I will be exploring backwards!