We take the holidays very seriously in my family. For as many years as I can remember, my grandmother and her two brothers and three sisters, have celebrated together in some fashion. When I was growing up, we usually got together on a Sunday afternoon before Christmas, each member of the family and respected descendants, brought a truck load of food to share. I remember my uncle dressing up as Santa and passing out gifts from a big sack to all the grandkids. We laughed and ate the afternoon away. At the end of our gatherings, I remember how we would sing around a piano. Christmas songs, hymns, or just any kind of “feel good” song there was to sing, we would sing it!
Now in his 90’s, my Uncle Glenn is the patriarch of the family. As a younger man, he went all over the world on safaris and other hunting expeditions killing animals such as bear, lions, elephants, zebras, and other types of animals that don’t frequent one’s own backyard. The fiddle player you see in the photographs is my Uncle Bob, the baby of the family, and is a man that found a different path to follow. As a craftsman of violins, he built his life around music.
Over Thanksgiving, we had the chance to get together again, just like old times.The grandkids are all grown up now. Most have children of their own. There is more gray hair in the crowd, along with wheelchairs and walkers. I look around and see that I am one of the grown ups now, no longer sequestered to the little kid table. Looking back, the “good ol’ days” were really that good, I just didn’t know it then.
The photographs were taken with my trusty Nikon FM2 and a roll of Ilford Delta 400 35 mm.
