52 Ancestors Week 6: Favorite Photo

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 6:

The theme for Week 6 is “Favorite Photo.” I realize that asking a genealogist to pick their favorite photo is like asking a parent to pick their favorite kid. Don’t stress on picking your absolute favorite – just choose one and tell the story of the people and place in the photo. Don’t forget about the “Why” – why was this photo taken? 

Look at this photograph....

    I'd like to take this time to thank Chad Kroeger and the rest of Nickelback for creating what is possibly the most overplayed song about photographs ever. Ever since the song first came out it's been used in every wedding, reunion, birthday party, funeral and every other event I can think of. It's second only to Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas is You". And that song only gets played one time of year!! And no I'm not linking it! One overplayed song per blog. Those are the rules.

    I think we can all agree that it wouldn't be 52 Ancestors without a favorite photo post. Amy is right. Asking a genealogist to pick a favorite photo is a lot like asking us to pick a favorite kid or favorite ancestor. We just can't do it! That doesn't mean we can't talk about the ones that mean a lot to us. 

    I've shared many photos on this blog and I like this one a lot for reasons I'll get into momentarily. It's one of those group shots that just make you laugh when you look at it and makes you wonder about the story behind the photo. Without further adieux, let me take you back to the spring of 1989 and from there we'll go forward in time and see all the changes!

 

The motley crew!

        I remember 1989 pretty vividly. It was the year my brother and I got our first 16-bit video game console, the Sega Genesis. I saw the first Tim Burton "Batman" movie in theaters that summer with my parents along with the second "Back to the Future" movie. "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was enjoying its second season despite the fact that there was a writer's strike in 1988. In case it wasn't obvious I was a kid in 1989. I was barely out of fifth grade! The year also saw some new additions to the family and that's where this picture comes in.

    This picture was taken at my cousin Kristyn's christening that spring and it's honestly one of the first pictures I remember taking with almost all of my cousins and my brother. Ever since that day it became a sort of tradition of my aunts to corral whoever was available at a family gathering and take a group shot. Let's take a look at who all is in this amazing photo shall we? Let's!

    From left to right in the first row we have my cousin Katelyn, my grandfather Robert Hamel, my cousin Robbie, my grandmother Natalie Felker holding Kristyn and my cousin Jennifer.

    In the back row we have my brother Jim looking way too cool for school, my cousin Michael and me trying to do bunny ears behind Michael's head and failing horribly. I was not tall enough. Sigh....

    Notably missing from the photo is my cousin Brianna. I'm not entirely sure where she was. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Getting all of us in one spot for more than five minutes is a lot like herding cats!

    Clearly, this picture was taken to celebrate Kristyn's christening. It was a joyous occasion and many of us still remember it well. She didn't know it yet but she was joining a family that was only going to get bigger as time move on. 

    I do have to laugh at my grandfather's reaction, though. He was wrangling two kids on his lap while Jim was behind him wearing sunglasses inside. I can only imagine what was going through his head. Nana on the other hand was busy beaming with pride. One more grandkid. Meanwhile, the oldest were being silly right behind her. At least we weren't too crazy! It was still the first of many crazy group shots.

    A few years ago, my aunt Linda posted this picture and tagged my brother, myself and the rest of the cousins. I remember the comments...,.especially my brother's! He said and I quote. "OMG! I....I have no excuse for this. All I can say is that it was 1989 and that I'm Italian. The end." My aunt being the wiseass said "Too cool for school, eh, James?" We shared some great memories. Katelyn was only a few months older than Kristyn and wanted to know if she was there. She was. Red shoes and all! The funny thing is Robbie still has that grin. So many great memories and like I said it was the first of MANY photos of me with my cousins.

Still not as tall as Michael....

    I'm not sure when this one was taken. It had to have been at some point in the mid 1990s because I was wearing my class ring. Don't ask me why I was wearing a windbreaker. I have no idea. Behind me is Michael and even in the 1990s he was taller than me. My grandmother Natalie is the one sitting on the chair with Kristyn and her younger brother Ryan who was born in 1991. Next to us is Jennifer.

    The 1990s was an interesting time for our family. I wish I could say why this picture was taken. I only know that my grandfather must have taken it because I found it in one of his mystery boxes along with all the other stuff he saved.  I think the picture was taken at some party or maybe some random get-together. My family never wasted an opportunity to take a picture of everyone present. Like I said. Herding cats. It's hard to get everyone in a large family together for one magical moment. 

Sad day. =(...What's that dot above Katelyn's head?!

    Things took a sad turn in the early 2000s. My grandmother passed away in 2004 and we held a massive funeral for her. Naturally, everyone there took pictures including this group shot. Included is my cousin Brianna on the far right and her daughter Mekayla on our grandfather's lap. It was great seeing all the cousins there that day. I just wish circumstances were different. Fortunately, things looked up in 2007.

        Kristyn's high school graduation was a bit of brightness after losing both grandmothers in the span of a year. We had my brother's wedding and her graduation to look forward to. And hey! At least I'm finally as tall as Michael here. Bet I could do those bunny ears without fail now! 

    Her class called themselves "The last good thing to come out of the 1980s." Looking, back at that first pic in the blog, I think that statement holds. 

    This was a great picture of a few of the cousins and me. I had a great time at her graduation. It was indoors and there was not a cloud in the sky. I call that a win! If you've read the blog where I talked about my high school graduation, you'll understand why. 

Good to know we can all look in the same direction....

   By the time 2013 rolled around all the kids in that first picture were adults and were starting their own families. If you can compare it with the 1989 photo you'll see that all of us aged well. From left to right we have Michael, Kayleigh, our grandfather, Katelyn, Kristyn and Jennifer up front and in the back we have Mivhael, me, Robbie and Ryan. Looking back I should have taken that opportunity to FINALLY do the bunny ears on Michael. And see Robbie's grin? Same one! Amazing. Some things never change.

    This picture was taken at our grandfather's 90th birthday party. It was a fun day to be sure. Lots of laughs, stories and pictures were taken. What you don't see is everyone taking pictures of us with their phones. That's why we're looking in random places. Sadly, this was the last time we all took a picture with our grandfather.

Everyone is he- Where's Ryan?!

    Our grandfather passed away in 2017 and naturally we had a big funeral for him in Haverhill. My brother came up from Virginia and everyone attended the service. Someone, I don't know who, wanted to have a picture of all of us together. Unfortunately, Ryan had some things he needed to take care of and couldn't make it for the group shot. See? Herding cats! 

    Still, this is a great one as it shows the cousin and a few of their kids. Hopefully, we'll all get together at some point and take another photo. Time will tell!

    However, nothing beats the first picture in the blog. Most of us were there for that one and in retrospective it's pretty funny. It's good to look at a family photo and laugh. It's also good to look at family photos over time and see how the family grown and change over the years. Even though it was a lot like herding cats you can see a lot of changes in the family since the very beginning. My grandparents were adamant about having updated photos of everyone and in time I'm sure more pictures will be taken. It's a good group of cousins and they're the only first cousins I have. So, any time with them is bound to be memorable. We still talk and comment on things here and there on Facebook and we reminisce about days gone by whenever our aunt or someone would dust off a photo and put it online for everyone to see. In time, more pictures will be taken. But I don't think they'll come as close as that one from 1989. Jim will always be too cool for school.

See ya next time!