My blog friend, Flower Jane had a great idea to share an old photo and tell a story about it, so I went digging. The old cigar box I keep on a shelf was brought down and I foraged through its contents until I found this black and white photo from 1961.
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| Grandma, 41 ~ Marti, 19 ~ Deb, 3 days |
I'm in a funk these days, still nursing some broken heartstrings after the dismissal of some dear co-workers, and my mind follows suit by thinking up a list of all the sad things that have happened in the lives of my grandmother, mom, and me since this photo was taken. I play the list in my mind like a broken record: my grandfather's passing, my uncle being drafted and going to Vietnam, my dad leaving several times, and my mom's battle with ovarian cancer. "We had no idea in that moment what challenges were ahead of us," I think to myself.
"But wait!" says happy me. "There have been all sorts of good things in the mix as well," and I have to dig deep into the corners of my mind to list them. Why, I wonder, is it sometimes difficult to focus on the positive when the negative just comes so easy? Of course there were good times - the birth of my grandmother's first grandchild, yours truly, for one!
We had no way of knowing, way back in 1961 what the future held, but in hindsight it's clear that we could handle whatever came our way. How fortunate am I to come from a strong line of resilient women, captured in a black and white photograph at the beginning of our journey together.
"But wait!" says happy me. "There have been all sorts of good things in the mix as well," and I have to dig deep into the corners of my mind to list them. Why, I wonder, is it sometimes difficult to focus on the positive when the negative just comes so easy? Of course there were good times - the birth of my grandmother's first grandchild, yours truly, for one!
We had no way of knowing, way back in 1961 what the future held, but in hindsight it's clear that we could handle whatever came our way. How fortunate am I to come from a strong line of resilient women, captured in a black and white photograph at the beginning of our journey together.
♥
