What I Saw Today.....

My little brother John has a blog. Not only does he have a blog, he, like Charlie Murphy, weaves a fine tale.

John's blog is called By The Numbers. Like so many of us, John started out blogging on a specific topic, in his case, automobiles, but this internet thing is a powerful tool for those who have something to say. It is even more powerful for those who have nothing to say, just ask the mayor.

John just moved to Daytona Beach, Florida, from Ocala, Florida. He lives close to the ocean, and wears khakis and polo or polo style shirts.

My brother Tom asked me if I would be willing to undertake the task of going through our Mother's photo albums and sorting out the pictures according to family members families. There are a lot of photos here. My question is, if a family member has a thick album of wedding pictures and the marriage ended in bitter divorce, do I send the album or keep it until the pain has lessened?

(60% of the children of the Bob and Mary Lou Lee have been divorced, 10% married a divorced person, and the remaining 30% are still with their original spouses. I am in the 30% bracket. 35 years with the private nurse. My secret to staying married? It's easy when you love your wife.)

So that picture problem: what to do with wedding photos of spouses who are no longer spoken of with kindest remarks. There are a lot of photos at family gatherings and holiday dinners that show spouses who are no longer spouses. Or, even more ticklish, pictures of unmarried siblings with the current girl/boy friend of the day. Do I send these photos? I think I will just put them in each child's pile and let them decide whether to keep them or not.

The lady across the street, who had gone blind later in life, had an auction or her house and contents last year. I asked her son why they were auctioning off family photo albums. He told me since Dad died and Mom went blind, and they were the last of their generation, there was no one who knew who the people in the photos were.

Likewise, it is sad to find family photos for sale in flea markets. I found these at one of those sales at the fairgrounds. I bought the page for a buck. I have the last picture taken of Wm. Fred Baker, the boy's Dad, taken in October of 1953. Dang, I want to find him and give him back these photos. I also have photos of Buster, his white dog and Tops, his white pony.

And then, I got photos like these two examples: Ed, Regina and John at the house on South Jefferson (I need to blog about that house. It had secret stairways, hidden doors in walls, hidden rooms, a leaky basement and mildew stucco, but it was a neat house!) Judging from Ed's outfit---no wait, can't date it on Ed's clothes, he still wears the same stuff, jeans and shirts. So does John, jeans and polos. Regina looks just as pretty as the day we married. Anyhow, I guess this is from the mid 1980s. And this one of John, well, it's my submission for What I Saw Today