Friday, January 12, 2007

Generations

With my second daughter on the way in just a few short weeks (delivery scheduled for February 6), I've been thinking about how fast my first ten years of marriage have passed, and about how quickly my first daughter has grown up. I then started thinking about how quickly it seems I've gotten to my current age -- and that led to thinking about the generations of my family that have gone on before me.

This is a picture of one set of paternal great-grandparents; in fact, it is their wedding photo, taken exactly 90 years before my own wedding. I don't know how old they were in this picture, but I look at them and wonder what they were thinking at that moment: what they were excited about, what they were looking forward to, their goals, and even what they might have even been afraid of. And part of me wonders what they would think of what their family has gone on to do in the 100 years since this picture was taken.....

4 comments:

SUSAN said...

They look expectant to me, like they were excited about the future! I have some old framed photos of my great grandparents too...the grandmother I was named after. Looking at them makes me realize how quickly time flies.

Carpe Diem!
Susan

margaretm said...

Great picture. I think they look very happy--other pictures I've seen during this time period don't even have smiles!

Your great-grandfather looks very kind.

Anonymous said...

First, they are lovely people, and I agree with Margaret...pictures of that era with happy looking people were rare indeed!
Second...from what I've seen of your family pictures...what a strong resemblence! Good looking folks! I love faces...the artist in me....

Anonymous said...

Well to give you some indication of age - He was born in 1884 and she was born in 1887. They were married in 1906 which makes him about 22 years of age and she was just 19. Your other paternal great-grandmother was married in 1887 when she was 15 and her husband was 21. Ah, youth!! Somehow I just can't imagine being 21 and ready to marry a young girl of 15! Can you get arrested for that? She went on to give birth to 13 children [ten actually survived to adulthood) - there may have been more but her husband died in 1924! Quite a family!