Friday, April 03, 2009

The Mysterious Man


This is a picture of my dear Grandpa Shorty. He wasn't in the army, but one of his brothers was, and they all liked to take turns wearing his uniform when he came home from World War II.

When I was home for my family reunion last October, my grandmother, bless her heart, had been busy scanning in photos on her computer. I had seen this picture before, but when she showed it to me again, I saw something I had never noticed before.

If you'll look at the top right, you'll see another person in the photo. Now what's funny about this is that I showed this photo to a bunch of people at the family reunion - and no one knew who it was. It looks like a man wearing long underwear with a coat and an apron. We've blown up the photo to take a closer look and it almost looks like the guy is wearing a mask. Either that or the tree branches are covering up his face.

Knowing my grandpa and my great-uncle's penchant for practical jokes, I wouldn't be surprised if whoever this was (maybe my great-uncle Frankie) got dressed up and deliberately put himself in this picture for a good laugh. Regardless, it made for a great discussion at the family reunion, spurring more stories to be told of the past. And it also warmed my heart to think of my grandfather and his brother playing jokes on each other well into adulthood.

Have a great weekend!

9 comments:

  1. What a cool keepsake.

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  2. The secondary figure seems to be looking down to tighten up his bomber jacket and his flying goggles or leather cap is shading his face? (Maybe waiting his turn for a photo.) Cool pics!

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  3. Awesome photo! And I love the story, too.

    Have a great weekend, Melissa.

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  4. What a wonderful photo. If only we knew the story behind it!

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  5. I love to look at old photos. Too bad most of mine now are in disc and passing them around in the future won't be like we know it.

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  6. Aren't old photos fantastic? I inherited a batch from a great aunt. I'm amazed that the woman I only knew as old and fuddy-duddy actually looked like she was having a great time!

    In fact, a few pictures feature her with three friends, and they look like they'd be fun to hang out with. They all have that mischievous twinkle in their eyes--you know the one I'm talking about!

    This is my first visit to your blog. It's very pretty and I like your voice. Have a great weekend!
    Jill

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  7. Hope your week ended on a better note, Melissa. I'm so sorry for this difficult time in your life. I can't imagine how much writing I would get done if this kind of obstacle landed in my path. Sometimes God leads us to a rest. Hope you can find peace today.

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  8. I loved going through old family photos with my mom. So many relatives I never knew about...and the stories were wonderful! This is such a fabulous photo; thanks for sharing it.

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  9. How do you get your word bar to change without copying and pasting it in a gadget again????

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