Memories

I had to hook up my scanner the other day to my computer and while I was at it, I thought, why not scan in some old photos? What turned out to be a simple idea created an onslaught of memories. I found photos from my childhood that I had completely forgotten about.

As a child growing up in the 70s, I forgot just how, well, awful 70s fashions and designs were. Case in point:

Look at this kitchen! You can't see the other walls, but they were painted a bright, marigold yellow. My mom finally redid the kitchen in the mid-1990s when I went off to college and toned things down.

Check out the living room:

That's me and my older brother. We were "painting" the walls with our paint brushes. The living room was Americana at its finest, since 1976 was the bicentennial of America. We had red carpet in one room and blue shag carpet in the other. And that wallpaper! Oh my.

Look at me in these curlers. And the plaid! (If you look closely, you can see a tiny bit of the blue shag carpet...)

But the pictures I especially like are these of me and my grandfather, who passed away a few years ago:

I remember frequently falling asleep with grandpa in his chair. On the back of this photo, my grandmother wrote, "Another boring day at Grandma's house!" But it was never boring at their house. Never. I had the best time. They lived just a few miles from us on a neighboring farm. I remember picking fresh strawberries and playing with the dogs and butchering chickens and going for long walks on the county road. It was awesome.

This photo is of me, my big brother, our dog, Buffy, and my grandfather. This was at our farm.

This is how I remember my grandpa - with that blue shirt. He wore those a lot. When I saw this picture, I started crying. I miss him so much. But I find that I'm remembering him more like this, when he was healthy and vibrant and full of life, then how he was at the end, so sickly and frail. I like it better that way.

I'm headed home this weekend and I hope to grab a lot more old photos and scan them in. They've reminded me of what a wonderful childhood I had and how I am so incredibly blessed to have my family. It hasn't always been easy - lots of ups and downs - but I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.