I love this photo especially because it shows my grandmother in a light I never would have imagined. I knew my grandmother as a mostly unsmiley, serious, grim woman. I can't say for sure why she turned out that way (although I could and have made some conjectures.) I know my grandfather doted on her. She also (in my young, immature eyes) was not an attractive woman (the dourness impacting that I believe). When I was in Jr. high school I came across a professional photo of her from around this time period and I was SHOCKED (an understatement) as to how absolutely LOVELY she was. She was still serious in that photo. When I found this particular photo (and a few more) about 10 years ago I was again taken aback by how smiley she was. Happy. Giggly almost.
Oh and I should add given my interest in photography and genealogy it's almost an obsession to me to label and identify all the family photos I can get my hands on. When I come across an old family photo (whether from my family or just some random online photo) I feel so SAD when there is no indication of WHO the person(s) in the photos are. It just feels so wrong to me.
I likely have mentioned before that I was obsessed about finding a photo one of my ancestors, Daniel Entler, that I heard a lot about as a child. He died in 1866 and I knew that there was a chance a photo of him may exist. Eventually one "came to me" very randomly from another descendent who just happened to also live in Portland. Daniel was from West Virginia. Getting that photo (and some others from the same source) just meant so much to me because I grew up hearing about Daniel and his family and Shepherdstown.
The photo is fantastic and I agree that we discover so much to speculate on when we find these treasures. You've made this one lovely. And I'm glad you have such determination to LABEL old family photos! [high fives]
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I love this photo especially because it shows my grandmother in a light I never would have imagined. I knew my grandmother as a mostly unsmiley, serious, grim woman. I can't say for sure why she turned out that way (although I could and have made some conjectures.) I know my grandfather doted on her. She also (in my young, immature eyes) was not an attractive woman (the dourness impacting that I believe). When I was in Jr. high school I came across a professional photo of her from around this time period and I was SHOCKED (an understatement) as to how absolutely LOVELY she was. She was still serious in that photo. When I found this particular photo (and a few more) about 10 years ago I was again taken aback by how smiley she was. Happy. Giggly almost.
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I likely have mentioned before that I was obsessed about finding a photo one of my ancestors, Daniel Entler, that I heard a lot about as a child. He died in 1866 and I knew that there was a chance a photo of him may exist. Eventually one "came to me" very randomly from another descendent who just happened to also live in Portland. Daniel was from West Virginia. Getting that photo (and some others from the same source) just meant so much to me because I grew up hearing about Daniel and his family and Shepherdstown.
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wonderful that you finally got one of daniel.
i don't know much about my ancestors and alas, my chances of finding out have grown from slim to virtually none.
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The photo is fantastic and I agree that we discover so much to speculate on when we find these treasures. You've made this one lovely. And I'm glad you have such determination to LABEL old family photos! [high fives]
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