Today I was looking at some old photos on Facebook, posted by a high school classmate of mine, Jeff Lusenhop. He got his high school graduation photos digitized and had posted a few.
Scarily bad 1971 clothes and hairstyles on people I haven't thought about for many years. I immediately recognized Sheri and Teri, the identical, incredibly nice, cheerleading twins, in matching white dresses, leggy and tanned as they always were (and shall be forever, in my memory).
Then suddenly, there's my dad, looking relaxed and happy, smiling and looking down at his camera as he walks through the crowd. An amazing coincidence--he's just background noise in Jeff's graduation photos, some stranger who wandered into their family's photo album.
It is lovely to see him; he was younger at that moment than I am now, in the middle of his life on a beautiful, celebratory summer day in downtown Dayton. I realize once again how much I miss him, and am once again grateful for how much of him lives on in me: my love of words, my work ethic, and, I confess, my penchant for a good argument.
(Thanks to Jeff Lusenhop for posting this photo.)
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2 comments:
Edie, I love this photo. It is so nice to see your dad, wandering unaware that he, the photographer, is being photographed. Photography, yet another talent, besides the penchant for arguing, that you carry on. I am not sure whether or not he was a photo buff but it is another connection I see when I look at him with his camera.
Plus it is fun that the scene is oh so 70's.
I believe that this type of wonderful coincidence - your father in the background of one of my family pictures - is one of the wonderful by-products of the internet and the explosion of social networking sites. Not only can friends of the past keep in touch, but beautiful surprises such as this picture can occur. I am very happy that my posting this picture caused one of these surprises for you!
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