My Aunt – Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian

For this week’s edition of the Friday Photo Flashback, we go back to Spring Break of 1989. I had graduated high school, was working at my first radio job, and my high school band was heading to Florida to perform at Disney World. My brother was still in band at the time and my parents and I tagged along on the trip as chaperones.

My grandmother and aunt had moved to Florida. At some point on the trip, my grandmother met up with us. If my memory serves me correctly, my friend Steve also came on this trip, and we were hanging out together. I wish I had spent a little more time with my grandma on this trip, but you know how 19 year old kids are …

I love this picture of my mom and my grandma. They both would be diagnosed with breast cancer and their lives would be cut short by it. In this picture, they are both healthy. This is the way I will always remember my grandma. She always seemed to wear her hair that way. It was the late 80’s, so both her and mom have those big round lenses on their glasses. I can see the watch that she always wore, too.

My mom is wearing a T-Shirt with the Kiss-FM logo. That was my first radio job, and I am sure I was still working there when this was taken. What I wouldn’t give to have one of those shirts today! Blonde was not my mother’s natural hair color, but I always loved when she wore it that color. Her hair seems to be a bit short in this picture, too.

The more I look at this photo, the more I think that this was taken just before we all loaded up the busses to head back home, or maybe before my grandma was heading home. Mom is holding shopping bags, so we had probably all just come back from one last trek to buy souvenirs. It is hard to say.

I don’t think this was the same trip (mom’s hair looks longer), but it could be.

When I found out my grandma had cancer, I avoided seeing her. I regret this. A lot. It is one of those things that comes up a lot in my mind. If I could turn back the clock, I would. I didn’t want to see her sick. I remember someone had taken some pictures of her after she had gone through some chemotherapy or radiation and she was a shell of her former self.

Those pictures sort of assured me that I was doing the right thing by not seeing her. Well, at least I thought so. I know now it was not. I should have seen her. I should have called her. I should have held her hand and said I love you. I should have had the chance to say goodbye. In Sinatra’s “My Way,” he says, “Regrets. I’ve had a few…” This is one of my biggest regrets. The only good thing about my not seeing her sick is that when I think of her, she is just as she was in these photos.

I think of these two brave women every October – Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I miss them both very much.

It is another installment of my “Friday Photo Flashback.” This came about when a writing prompt suggested going through photos and finding one that stands out or brings about some sort of memory.

The one I have chosen to look at today is one that just stands out to me as “neat.”

The handsome young chap in the above picture is yours truly. I really love this picture of me. I have absolutely no idea why I am wearing this sailor suit. I don’t know who bought it for me. I don’t know if this was taken on Halloween. I just don’t know much about this picture. There may or may not be another picture of me in this same outfit at my dad’s college graduation. I may be mistaken.

This is where I open things up to my relatives, who may be able to help me. They can correct me if I am wrong.

From what I can tell, this is my Aunt Lois’s house. I could be wrong. It just seems to have the same layout that I remember. The last time I was at her house I was probably 11 or 12, so my memory could be very wrong.

If I had to guess, I am somewhere between 2 and 4 years old here. I am always in awe of the furniture in these old pictures. To my left in the photo is a coffee table (I think that’s what they referred to them as). I’m going to guess that those are fake flowers in a pot. That looks like a lace doily underneath it. For some reason or another, doilies were quite the thing in the 70’s. It seemed like they were under lamps, flower pots, and anything that sat on a table or end table.

The round table behind me in the photo looks like a table on top of a table. I can’t really tell, but it looks like there is an area to store things like maybe the Family Bible between the two round table tops.

The lamp on the top (with a doily under it) looks familiar. I wish I could see the lamp shade, not that it would make that big of a difference. I wonder if this lamp wound up in my Aunt and Uncle’s place in Caseville. I can’t really understand why it looks so familiar.

It seemed like every relative of mine had some sort of rocking chair in their house. This one here sort of reminds me of my great grandma’s rocking chair. That, in itself, makes me wonder if this was taken at her house. I just don’t know. I suppose there is the possibility that this was taken at my grandma’s house, but I really doubt it.

The last thing I notice is the folding chair. Folding chairs were often brought up from a basement or from out of a hall closet for when there was some sort of family get together. I really don’t recall having big get togethers at my aunt’s house, but maybe there was. The presence of the folding chair suggests to me that this had to be taken on some sort of holiday. That might also explain the sailor suit.

I’m anxious to see what I learn from a few of my relatives regarding this photo.

One thing is for sure – this photo is probably the only time I’ve been in a military uniform!