Look At This Photograph

First, I'd like to apologize for the title of this post, which I admittedly borrowed from a song by either Nickelback or Hinder, which are basically the same band. But this is a blog about nice things, not terrible things, so here we go.

Truly, madly, deeply, what could be nicer than old photographs? Recently, there have been a few instances that have rekindled my interests in these images of the past.

Yesterday, some relatives that I knew nothing about made a surprise visit to my grandparents' house bearing an envelope for my father. In the envelope were pictures of great uncles and aunts, my father when he was a boy, and even some early 90s family reunions in which I made some appearances. Well, that struck a note in my grandmother, who was not to be outdone. So she dug out the photo albums, and away we went.

Paul & Debbie of a friend's family, in an old photograph

I love seeing old pictures of my dad's family that I know little to nothing about. I like to think about their lives and what they were like. I like to see them sitting on the front steps of their true-to-form Arkie cabins, or, a little later, proudly posing with their new Chevrolet. I like to wonder what it was like to work so hard picking cotton or strawberries, raising pigs, and tending chicken houses so they could buy a vehicle to ride into town on the weekends.

A few days ago, in the midst of moving and emptying a large shop-building, I came across a trunk that belonged to my mother's mother, or, as I called her, Omi. She was from Heidelberg, Germany, and got off the boat in the late 50s after my mother was born.

In the trunk were tons of German books and old letters written in the language, which were treasures in themselves, but for a brief while I was fascinated by all the old photos that were littered about the box. Images of old European streets filled with small, roundish autos and thin-wheeled bicycles with fenders gave me a sense of longing, and pictures of people I was likely related to, whose descendants still live in Germany, made me curious.

Many of these photos were more than 50 years old and of people and places I have never known, but they had such a profound impact on me. This is my past, your past, or just plain old anybody's past, and that fascinates me. Especially when room is left for imagination and story-making.



*Bonus: What other popular song titles can be found in this post, and who performed them?