Legacy

There's that haunting, wonderful scene from Dead Poets Society where Mr. Keating encourages his students to study old photos of the boys who previously attended Welton. "Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys. Make your lives extraordinary." Ah, love it! Still gives me chills. For as long as I can remember, I have been fascinated by old photos. As a kid, I had books containing nothing but collections of unsmiling black and white portraits. Becky and I would spend hours stretched out on my bedroom floor memorizing the Victorian strangers, picking our favorites, giving them names and creating stories for them. They came to life for us, these hundreds-year-old images. It's one fascination that I certainly haven't outgrown...and perhaps in part why I get so much joy out of what I do. I'd like to imagine the pictures Mike and I take will become part of a family's history: cherished, reminisced over, passed down through generations. That's some powerful, heartwarming stuff.

Recently, my Memere (Mom's mom...we're French Canadian on that side) sent me a few great old photos and reminded me of a family history that, with respect to my new career choice, kind of blows my mind. Turns out my Great-Grandfather Henry was a photographer. He had his own studio in Fall River, Massachusetts. Upon retirement, he passed the business on to one of his sons, my Great Uncle Ernie, and Ernie, in turn, upon his retirement, passed all of the antique prints and equipment on to the Fall River Historical Society. Pretty cool for me to find out my passion for photography, which seems sometimes to have snuck up on me so quickly, was in my blood all along. I just love everything about the photo of Henry's studio. The candidness of it, the crazy tilt of the portraits on the wall, the women's clothing, the writing on the door in the back (which I can ALMOST read...almost!) and most of all, Great-Grandpa Henry's expression. It's friendly and jolly. It's as if he and Great-Great Aunt Alice (behind the counter) couldn't possibly keep a straight face while taking this picture. Maybe he was thinking, "Who in the world will ever want to see a picture of my studio?!" If he only knew.

Gold Stars for the week:
*Memere: Thank you SO MUCH for sending this great photo...and for validating my new endeavor on an even bigger level!

*New DIY Projects: I've been bitten by the decorating bug. I blame these great new old photos. I've started to collect as many antique family pictures as possible for a frame collage in our guestroom. By the time I get done with it, I want it to look like Rose's collection from Titanic.

*Neil Perry: A shout out to my favorite character from Dead Poets. Poor Neil. But, never fear...he's on House now and is doing just fine. Click here to relive the greatness.