Jayne - 1941

Dear Diary,

Another "Scan it Sunday" for me.  This is one of my favorite photographs of my mother taken a few months before her marriage to my dad in December of that year.  She was just 19 years old.  She inherited her mother's dimples and such a warm and happy smile.

Unfortunately, much later in her life that smile was rarely visible.  I've always wondered at the transformation.  We didn't talk much about such things.  It is strange to think of your parents as almost strangers but so much of their lives remained hidden away. That is my father's shadow on the ground taking the photograph.  They were both kind of shadow figures to me.  I knew their shape and size but the detail is missing.

I started a series called "Conversations with My Mother" in which I try to come to terms with all this.  It is way too personal for posting here but as I do my family chronicle I do find myself "talking" to the photographs more and more.

I guess that's why I love this photograph so much.  At least here I know that there was a time in her life when she was truly and completely happy and that is what I try to hold onto.