Someday

March 8, 2015 by The Minnesota Farm Woman

After my mother died, I inherited the large dresser that was in her bedroom for many years. I also inherited all the family photos, and there are boxes of them from both my mother’s and my father’s side of the family. It was not that my sister didn’t want them, but I have more storage room than she does, namely, the large dresser. All of the drawers are filled with loose photographs and albums of even more photographs as well as documents and scrapbooks. Even though I reminded my mom to write on the back of these photos so we would know who they were when we went though them someday, she didn’t. I guess that maybe the project was a little too overwhelming for her, but someday is here already, and it came sooner than we all expected it to. I wanted to make it my winter project to go through and clean out those drawers, but time got away from me and I didn’t get a lot done. It’s not that I’m lazy. I just don’t like to be cold, and spend most of those dark winter evenings under my electric blanket watching old movies and House Hunters episodes featuring Caribbean beach homes. Yesterday, there was finally a hint of spring in the air, and after a walk in the sunshine with Barney the Chihuahua, who also spent the winter under the electric blanket, I pulled out the first drawer and got started. After looking through Mom’s collection of childhood valentines from the 1930’s, I sorted the mixed-up photographs into piles and decided that I would harden my heart and toss in the trash anyone we didn’t know, was unfocused, or any landscape pictures of unknown places. You can probably guess what happened. I was transported back to bygone days. My mother and her sister Olive were young and beautiful in the early 1940’s and looked so carefree, despite the fact that there was a war going on and the world was a very serious place. Thrown into the mix were photos of our toddler grandson as a newborn, my daughter and nephew with silly grins on their faces sitting in Dad’s old boat, and my beautiful baby niece who was born prematurely and lived only a few short months. I studied the face of the grandmother I never knew to see if there was a hint of any of them in her smile or in her eyes. I found assorted posed family Christmas pictures, and a favorite first-day-of-school picture with half of the neighborhood kids standing on our front steps, dressed in our finest first-day-of-school clothes. I can still hear my mom asking us to say “cheese” while trying to squeeze us all into the picture and it looks like I may have been rolling my teenage eyes behind some very groovy glasses. Before I knew it, the afternoon had disappeared and I had only emptied out the first drawer. There’s five more to go, as well as my own boxes of photographs. I haven’t written on the back of any of them yet, but I’ll get to it….someday.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged old photographs, spring cleaning | 8 Comments

8 Responses

on March 8, 2015 at 5:58 pm | Reply Jeanne

Yes, My Mom left pictures without names, dates and places on them as well. It was so easy to “tag” the people in the pictures in those days. Thanks stir up some nice memories as I think about some those pictures of my ancestry. 🙂

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- on March 8, 2015 at 7:21 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  You’re welcome!
  
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on March 9, 2015 at 11:20 am | Reply Shirley Taylor

How sweet. 🙂
I also have a big box of pictures that I received after my younger sister passed.
She was the one who had custody of the family photos.
I only regret that I didn’t receive some very important ones from her hubby.
I just hope he didn’t throw them away!
Just last week I found a handful of old pics.
When my 30 something daughter found them, (almost almost unmarked ) she set about putting them on Facebook!
I don’t know why we never wrote the important stuff on the backs,I can remember promising myself to do so.
Last night my husband found one of himself at age 17,sitting on the couch next to his mom and little brother, on the very day he left for the Air Force!
I was proud to shim get out a pen and set to work filling in everything future generations would want to know.
🙂

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- on March 10, 2015 at 4:50 am | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Good for you! I need to do it. 🙂
  
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on March 9, 2015 at 9:37 pm | Reply annespartz

Please do not throw away pictures of unknown people! Pass them on to other family members (both sides of the family) until someone recognizes them! Scenery, yes; People, no!

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- on March 10, 2015 at 4:49 am | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Don’t worry. These are not old relatives, but my parents’ exchange students, their families, etc. I am a careful keeper of the family genealogy and everything that goes along with it. 🙂
  
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on April 2, 2015 at 2:20 pm | Reply illoura

LOL, I could just hear the panic emanating from annespartz… glad it’s all under control.

An idea… I don’t know if this would suit you or not, but I have had fun over the years refinishing old (yes, even antique) furnishings. Sometimes over and over again – to suit a new purpose or room theme… The latest and most fun (easiest to do and fun to find the graphics) was a round table, that I decoupaged with ‘vintage crate labels’ off the internet. Also, “GraphicsFairy” is GREAT for all kinds of vintage graphics to illustrate -or decoupage- with.
My next project was going to be to use a mix of antique/vintage (mostly French styled) postal letters and old receipts and valentine cards (perhaps with some butterflies added). Some are white, some parchment paper, or stained paper – even with coffee cup stains, some are slightly pink – of course you could print anything you want on any paper… if you wanted a theme color.

Since you have wonderful old valentine cards and letters, they might make a charming tabletop/desk/hopechest decoupage. You’d have a place to display them, rather than storing them forever and a day…

By the way, I stumbled onto your blog while seeking to find out what you farm women DO in the middle of your ‘long winters, and by that I mean cold’……lol.
We’re moving from SW CO to SE MN in 2 short months! (I already saw the youtube video of the F4 tornado that passed thru the town in 2010.)

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- on April 2, 2015 at 3:59 pm | Reply The Minnesota Farm Woman
  
  Great idea. I love vintage, and have old paper dolls framed in my guest room. If you want to know what I do in the winter….I read and play on my tablet while in the jacuzzi.
  
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