This week, I began a new feature called The Music of My Life and began featuring music from every year of my life. I began in 1970, and I thought I would stay in 1970 for the Friday Photo Flashback. As a bonus, because I couldn’t decide on one picture, you get two!
The above photo was taken shortly after I came home from the hospital. It is one of my favorite photos of my dad and me. There really isn’t a whole lot happening in the background, but there are some things that really stick out to me.
First, I was a pretty good looking kid! Next, my dad, for as long as I can remember always had a mustache. The fact that he doesn’t have one in this picture makes it a bit more special to me. Then, there are his sideburns. It seems like he always seemed to have those, but they are a bit more prominent here. Dad is also wearing a white t-shirt in this picture. It seems like he would wear those often when he was just walking or working around the house. Finally, we both have hair in this photo! LOL
The above photo is a bit after the one with my dad. I love my mom’s smile in this picture! Despite my brother and I making fun of her about them in later years, I love that she’s wearing the horn-rimmed glasses.
This photo was taken at my grandma’s house. So it makes it a nostalgic trip to remember the lay out of her house. It seems like my grandma had that yellow couch forever! There was a green chair made of the same scratchy fabric that went with it. It is no surprise to see the paneling on the wall behind it. If I could stretch the right side of the picture a bit more, directly above the couch was grandma’s cuckoo clock.
On the left side of the picture is a napkin holder that I vaguely remember her having. Later on, they just used paper towels that they stacked in a Tupperware sort of container. Directly behind my mom was grandma’s fridge, which always had a big block of parmesan cheese that she would grate fresh for spaghetti dinners. The freezer was on top and I remember they’d have Wonder Bread in thick plastic bags in there. I wish I knew what that thing is above the freezer next to that vase. It looks like fake flowers, but I don’t know.
Behind me is the stove, which produced some of the most amazing meals I’ve ever eaten! It looks like there was an analog clock on it to the right. I can see one of grandma’s percolators on the stove, as well as the infamous casserole dish that everyone had in the 70’s! In the middle of the stove top, I can see the glass salt and pepper shakers that my grandma used all her life. They are just like the ones you used to see in restaurants before they were replaced by those plastic ones.
There is actually a space between the stove and that counter top behind me. If I were to stretch that side of the photo to the left, the sink would be against the wall and another cupboard would be on the left side of a window that was above the sink. This was the spot where my father was aggravating my grandma one day and she went to kick him in his behind, but he moved. She fell and he stood there laughing. It was probably not funny for her at the time, but she certainly laughed about it whenever she retold the story.
There was a time when grandma always had a table cloth on the table, but as we got older, she stopped. I’m guessing it is because we stained them with food or drink. She eventually just had placemats. For whatever reason, I remember that there was a wooden bowl in the middle of the table that had fake wax fruit in it. My brother and I always seemed to pluck the plastic grapes off the plastic vines.
I have so many wonderful memories of that house, my grandparents, my mom, and my dad. I am glad to have so many photos to remind me of those days…..
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 