My mom was going through some files at my Grandpa's house and she came across this picture, which was taken during Christmastime in approximately 1943 in the town of Raymond, Alberta -- arguably the center of the universe.
I don't know who the guy in the uniform is, but the cute girl in the middle is my grandma, back when she was only 22 years old. The dashing fellow next to her is R's grandpa, who lived in the same town (and carried the nickname of "Pete", even though his name is Gerald). Fifty-seven years after these two strolled through the snowy streets of Raymond, their paths crossed again as their grandchildren (us) got married.
Sadly, my Grandma passed away in February 2004, so she didn't get to see our little boy. Perhaps we'll take him down to Raymond some Christmas and let him track through the snow.
What a great picture.
My mom showed this picture to my Grandpa BJA and he added some more details:
Grandpa said that the man in uniform was Don Wells. He was a good friend of Grandma and Grandpa's. Grandpa was Don's best man at his wedding in Montreal.
There is a similar connection between Charise and James: James's grandma (Jane Walker) was Grandpa's first girlfriend when he was 13 years old. He had just moved to Raymond from Barnwell and thought that Raymond was really a big town. ("We had neighbors across the street instead of a mile away.") He said that Jane was always lots of fun. "We broke up because our parents objected--said that we were too young to go steady. I did not know how to break up with her, so I wrote a note and had one of her friends deliver it to her. That did the job. We were no longer going steady. We stayed friends, but never went steady with each other again." (Grandpa is sitting behind me telling me all about this time in his life.)
13 comments:
I will print this off for Grandma and Grandma Melchin. I loved seeing it and so will they. Helen
That is the coolest! She's so beautiful. I had no idea their paths had crossed.
I have the feeling Grandma saw lots of Scott...
Yes I do too. That's a wonderful picture and story...thanks for sharing.
Amazing coincidence. That picture really captures Grandma's sense of fun, I think.
shut UP! Ok, this photo is totally priceless. I love it.
D, could you e-mail me this picture or something? I'd love to own a copy of it. It looks like a movie poster.
Just click on the picture to load the larger version, then right-click on it to save the image. That will give you the same version that I have.
Lisa said:
She is so beautiful! I love this!
Amazing! Charise and James have a similar story involving Gpa. Heard it? Not sure if there is a picture for that one though :)
Grandpa said that the man in uniform was Don Wells. He was a good friend of Grandma and Grandpa's. Grandpa was Don's best man at his wedding in Montreal.
Glad you all liked the picture. There are more where that came from.
As far as the Charise and James and Grandpa connection: Jame's grandma (Jane Walker) was Grandpa's first girlfriend when he was 13 years old. He had just moved to Raymond from Barnwell and thought that Raymond was really a big town. ("We had neighbors across the street instead of a mile away.") He said that Jane was always lots of fun. "We broke up because our parents objected--said that we were too young to go steady. I did not know how to break up with her, so I wrote a note and had one of her friends deliver it to her. That did the job. We were no longer going steady. We stayed friends, but never went steady with each other again." (Grandpa is sitting behind me telling me all about this time in his life. Stay tuned--more to come later.)
Awesome thanks, D!
I actually had to guess at the date, because whoever trimmed the picture to its current size accidentally hacked off most of the date. I could clearly read "Christmas", but the year was just a couple of fragments. It was clearly in the 1940s, and I don't think it was '41, '44 or '47. The last digit had a flat or slightly rounded base.
Obviously, I am not cut out to be a detective or on CSI, since I missed the mark on this one.
It was fun seeing this picture at Helen's and watch the reaction of Jerry and Evelyn when they saw it. Evelyn said that the lady's (your grandmother's) husband was a closer friend to Jerry than she was. But it is such a neat story. They also told of similar ones, so they can share it with you when you get there. Oh, are all the word verifications the same now????
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