This month, I am writing with the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge to write every day! Today's post leaves me with questions that lead me to imagine....
"Annie" is all I really know about a picture I found in a box of bank statements, but I think it might be a picture of my grandmother from long before I knew her as a "little old lady" who cooked leg-of-lamb until it was blackened in her Brooklyn apartment and then waited patiently until we left.
I look at the grandeur of the hat, perhaps an Easter bonnet with all the frills upon it and wonder if those are real flowers pulled together for this rare photo shoot or if they were silk flowers if they even made them long ago? I would love to know if that is a big bow sticking up from the back? It appears her posture is perfect, her waist is tiny, and her skin flawless making her seemingly ready to take on anything that came her way, but is she?
I will never know for sure, but in the story running through my head ,Annie was living the good life in NYC with a little bit of money and a trousseau chest lined with negligees and silver plate. Then, after an illness, she went to the country to rest and recover where she encountered a charming young wanna-be overall-clad-farmer and as they say, had, as they say, fun, "In the Good Old Summertime." As fate would have it, love and perhaps those inevitable hormones lead them to sing, "Going to the Chapel." Then, amidst the country air and pitter-patter of little feet, my grandfather hummed, "Having My Baby," again and again for decades.
6 comments:
I love old photographs and conjuring up a story to go with them. My cousin told me that looking off into the distance was "the thing" at that time.
Love the incorporation of song titles in this. I had a colleague who would give his students old photographs and have them write a story about the people in them. arjeha
A picture inspires!
I had a great aunt Annie. Hmm. Not sure if I've seen a picture in recent years. Love the details in your story
Those song titles are the absolutely perfect conclusion! I am reading a novel that just explained how smiling was thought to be improper for photographs in the early days of photography, so... Have you ever read Walter Dean Myers Here in Harlem? He has created an imaginary world from those old photos, exactly what you've done here—even though she is a relative.
Anita, I am drawn to Annie and your storytelling. So compelling and delightful. She was quite a woman. I enjoyed the song titles in the conclusion too. Fun post.
Anita,
Annie looks sophisticated in that photo, and it reminds me of how photographers posed their subjects based on the desire of the one paying for the sitting.
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