52 Ancestors Week 4: Favorite Photo

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 4's theme is "Favorite Photo." This should be a fun week! Tell the story of a favorite photo -- who is in it, when and where was it taken, and why was it taken. Remember, it doesn't have to be a sepia-toned Victorian era photo. It could be a photo you took last week! (We are part of our own family history, after all.)

Look at this photograph....

   It's another year doing #52Ancestors and thus it's another chance to talk about favorite photos. Once again I got Nickelback's "Photograph" stuck in my head. How I hate that song. I'm not saying it's bad. It's just been relentlessly played over and over since the early 2000s. After a while it gets grating and I thank every genealogist on the planet for not playing the song in their blogs! We would have to have words! 

    The last time I talked about photos, I posted a blog about the picture I have of the Ferraiolo family coming to America. I have since obtained a cleaner copy and spruced it up some. Check it out here! It's a little green, I admit. However, I converted it to black and white and it looks fantastic!

    This year, I'm going to talk about two photographs since they tie into one another because they were taken at the same time. Why not? One of them means the world to me and the other is one that's really fun to look at.  I've posted both of them at various times here and now it's a good time to talk about them. 

The Little Old Italian Ladies (TM) and friend.

    If you're a long time reader, you've probably seen me post this picture whenever I talk about my grandmother Ollie and her sisters. From left to right we have: Louise Carrabs ,Olympia Carrabs, my other grandmother; Natalie Felker, Eleanor Carrabs, Josephine Carrabs, and Leonda Villanucci. Leonda was my great-aunt Louise's sister-in-law.

    Never before has the world seen such a group of little old Italian ladies (minus my other grandmother, obviously). This was the group I would see around that kitchen table at my grandmother's house in Haverhill. Every time I went over her house, I would see them all talking about relatives, what they did that day and more importantly the past. It was great seeing them and what was even greater is the stuff on the mantle. Check it out.

    On the far left you see a camera. This, no doubt, belonged to my grandfather Robert. He was an avid photographer up until the day he died. I wonder what made him put the camera down. Maybe he ran out of film? I want to say this picture was taken at my christening in 1980. That's probably the case because there's a picture of an adorable baby on the mantle next to a picture of his sort of adorable older brother. Wow. Look at the outfit he's wearing. The '70s really did have strange fashion options for children and most adults. That picture of me was probably taken minutes after I was born. It's a decent picture!

    The item next to my brother's picture is NOT a bowling bag. You see every Little Old Italian Lady (TM) comes complete with a handbag that can hold a ton of stuff. Tissues. Gum. Photos. Make up. You name it. It's in there. I have no idea whose handbag that was. I'm not going to dwell on it because I more than likely have seen it many times when I went over my grandmother's house.

    The reason why I like this picture so much is because it reminds me of the Little Old Italian Ladies (TM). I loved hearing their stories and eating their delicious cooking. That isn't to say my grandma Natalie didn't have good stories. She certainly did. I just saw them more frequently than her because they didn't live that far away. It's one of my favorites in the collection and to this day I still miss going to grandma's house and listening to their stories. And trust me they were FANTASTIC!

Such an adorable baby. ;)

    This last photo I want to talk about is one of my grandparents and I. It's no surprise that I would want to talk about it because it's the only photo I have with my grandpa Marco and I. It's hard to believe that three years after this photo was taken, he died due to cancer. 

    I don't have any memories of him because I was so little when he passed away. Growing up, I would spend a great deal of time looking at the photo and I would ask my family questions about him. We have other photos of Marco, too. But, this one means the most to me because it's the only one I have of him with me. For that reason alone, the picture is very special.

  

  I know it might sound selfish. But, I can't help feeling the way I do, you know.  Like I said. I have no memories of him. I don't even know the sound of his voice. My parents have said that he sounded like my father. That didn't help much! Or maybe it did give me some comfort? I have no idea.

    Anyway, photos are a great part of genealogy. They really put faces to the names you're putting into your favorite genealogy software or online. They help to bring your ancestors to life and in my case you get to see them in full color! I think I even have photos of my great-grandparents in color! I'll be sure to share those at some point! With any luck, I'll be able to share newer photos than than ones I've been posting. Stay tuned because I definitely have some good ones!

See ya next time!