This makes me wanna put an ad in the newspaper to buy all old & unwanted photos. :o) Joy >From: Kay Music <lmusic1@bellsouth.net> >Reply-To: GAWARE-L@rootsweb.com >To: GAWARE-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [GAWARE] Sunday Morning Coffee...a must read regarding old photos. >Date: Tue, 05 Mar 2002 22:46:16 -0500 > >-------- Original Message -------- >Subject: SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE >Date: Sun, 03 Mar 2002 06:49:23 -0700 >From: Colleen Pustola <ladyaudris@earthlink.net> >To: SundayCoffee@topica.com > > The Lost > > This is not a discussion group, but a read-only >service. If you would like to make any comments regarding this Coffee >or any others, you are welcome to send them to me at ><ladyaudris@earthlink.net>. > >Please share this with your genealogy friends and relatives and >invite them to join us, as well. To subscribe to this newsletter all >they need to do is send a blank email to ><SundayCoffee-subscribe@topica.com>. > >THE LOST > >Whoosshhhh!! > >She looked around. Where was she? People surrounded her for what >seemed like miles and miles! Where in the world had they all come >from? One minute she was alone, the next she was sitting amidst this >huge crowd! There was no sky; there was no earth. What kept this mass >of people so closely grouped together? > >...and the DUST! Whew! Between that and the overbearing pressure of >the crowd, she felt as though she could hardly breath! > >Then she saw them, her family. There were her parents and all eleven >siblings! Why, that's her as a young girl and there's her long-dead >sister, a child again! Over there were her husband and eight children! >She looked around a little more and found a few of her aunts, uncles and > >even some cousins! Everyone seemed to be there ~ a REUNION! Oh, yes! > >But there were also many, many people she didn't know. "Let's think on >the positive side of things, though," she thought. Just look at >everyone she DID recognize! > >Look at her dad! He's so proud of his family! You can see his pride by > >the way he stands, his shoulders thrown back. The long, hard years of > >farming show in his weathered face. Her mother looks delicate in the >face; those long skirts covering her frailness. She won't live much >longer... the doctor said she shouldn't have had so many children. > >She noticed her two grandfathers by the oxen-pulled wagon. Both her >grandmothers and both families' children were in it. She saw her father > >as a boy! "Everyone is on their way to a Fourth of July community >picnic," he'd once told her. To look at them their clothes weren't the >finest ~ rather plain actually. One grandfather wears a beaten up hat >as proudly as though it were a gentleman's derby. > >And there!... there are six of her great-grandparents! Those people >pioneered this area. Two pairs of those grandparents made their way >over to America ~ one from Germany, the other from Ireland. Best >friends, they are and what a combination of personalities they make. >One of the great-grandmothers was even a handmaiden to the queen herself > >before she got married! But they all died, the last one 17 years ago, >wasn't it? How could they be here now? > >And just in front of her ... her mother had once told her they were her >great-great grandparents from the old country! They look a little >smudged. How in the world could they be here in this crowd? They look >like they might be awfully warm in those heavy clothes. Her first >impressions of them hadn't changed ~ he still looked friendly; she still > >looked strict! > >What's going on? she wondered. > >See those two women over there? One is a cousin to her, the other just >an acquaintance. The two young women are best friends, so close you'd >think they were sisters. They have their arms wrapped around each >other. They once vied for the attentions of a young man, but she >doesn't see him in the crowd. Did either of them marry that man? > >She looked at the two women more closely. Why does her cousin's friend >have that scar across her face? Her friend didn't have that before >...at least, it looks like a scar. > >Some of them had names, some didn't. She was one who didn't. Some were > >in groups of full families, while others just one or several people. >Some were dressed in their Sunday best; others in worn and ragged >clothing used for working. The styles of dress of the children was as >mixed as the adults they co-mingled with. The old, old gowns of some of > >the the women ... how could this be? How could these people who had >already passed on be here with all these younger people today? What >kind of a reunion is this? > >Whooshhhh! She felt the cool air waft around her. It wasn't as crowded > >anymore; the dust was still in the air but it wasn't as choking. >Where'd everyone go? She felt as though she was being looked at. > >"This one doesn't have a name, either." > >Whooshhh! Back into the crowd again! > >This is crazy! > >Wait! Who is that? That woman who is standing with her hand on the >man's shoulder as he sits? Who IS that??? > >Her sister! It's her sister! > >It can't be. She died when a horse pulling a wagon ran over her 9 years > >ago! What a beautiful woman she was before she died. But she and her >husband look so faded now... > >There wasn't a mirror to look in, but she knew the dress she was wearing > >wasn't the one she had on earlier today. As a matter of fact, she >hadn't worn this dress since she was 18! > >Dateline 2002: Antique Store, Any City, Any Country > >"These old pictures, just look at all of them ~ tintypes, sepia-tones ~ >all kinds! They sure are dusty! Some of them are in pretty bad shape, >too." > >"I know, it's such a pity that a lot of them don't have names. They're >from quite a few old estates. We just took all the pictures and stuck >them in that box to get them out of the way. It's rare that anyone >looks at them, but we have an occasional customer who looks through >them. If we get too many more pictures though, we'll probably have to >throw these out to make more room. We'll get rid of those unmarked ones > >first." > > FINIS > >And so it goes, a dusty box of old pictures sits in yet another out of >the way place in one of the world's antique shops (or maybe even a flea >market or garage sale). Some of the photographs may be marked with >names, dates, places, and/or relationships; many aren't. Certainly, all > >of the people in the box had life stories, most of which will never be >known to future generations. If you haven't figured it out yet, "she" >was one of the unmarked pictures in the box ~ one of the lost souls. > >I wonder how many of us will become one of the lost souls in yet another > >dusty box of unmarked, unwanted, uncared-for photographic treasures. >How many of our descendants will end up saying, "I haven't the slightest > >idea who s/he is but s/he sure looks familiar!" Is that really what you > >want, gentle reader? Are your pictures labeled? Will your >grandparents, parents, sister, even YOU be known to your descendants 3-4 > >generations from now? > >Obviously this was a work of fictional fantasy, for we KNOW that souls >aren't really attached to pictures ...are they? > >It's family ... and that's what we're all about. > Colleen > > > > > >==== GAWARE Mailing List ==== >Search the RootsWeb Archives: >http://lists.rootsweb.com/ > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.com