Schultz Party of Four

Friday's Fond Memory

(the family portrait)

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Ok, ok, so it isn't a memory I actually had. But I ran across this picture and couldn't resist mulling it over, and sharing it. First of all, I love this picture because my Aunt is probably Carolyn's age, and my dad, seated on my Grandpa's lap, is probably close to Julia's age. Carolyn and my aunt look like they would be good chums if time had not intervened, both so spunky and literally in the middle of it all (consequently Carolyn fussed last night when Jill did not come over with Geoff, her son, saying "but I LOVE Jill!" ~ so they did turn out to be good friends afterall). My dad, sporting a buzz-cut, looks so much like Julia in both features and apprehension for the world. And then the attention has to turn to my grandparents. They must have been about our age, just beginning their family and their adult lives. I wonder how very similar we are? I wonder if they thought about the same things, worried about the same things, cared about the same things that we do? One of the things I enjoy so much but do so rarely is to sit down and listen to my grandparents talk about their childhood and early adulthood. I wonder what they thought about on this day. I wonder how hard it was to get these children to sit still for five minutes for a picture. It looks very picturesque, but I'd like to hear the whole story, and hopefully I will.