1934

Lorane, age 6, 1934

"A photograph never grows old. You and I change, people change all through the months and years, but a photograph always remains the same. How nice to look at a photograph of mother or father taken many years ago. You see them as you remember them. But as people live on, they change completely. That is why I think a photograph can be kind." ~ Albert Einstein (1879-1955)

Mom was born September,1928 in Roanoke, Virginia. She grew up there until she went off to college, met and married my dad. We ended up back in Roanoke for seven years and my brother was also born there. This was a formal photograph taken when she was six. I've seen several of these old studio photographs; taken in black and white, they are colorized by hand. The colors of the dress, eyes and hair are written on the back.

She looks older than six. In the middle of the Great Depression, both her parents held jobs to take care of their family. She was an only child but had at least one first cousin (also an only child) who was her age and lived close. She doesn't remember being lonely.

She wanted skates; begged and pleaded until her dad brought them home. Back then as it was when I was little, the skates were those with keys, they attached to your shoes or sneakers; no booted skates. The very first time she put them on and tried to skate on the sidewalk, she fell and broke her arm. So went the skates. I don't think she ever got back on them.

Today she went for a walk outside. A front went through last night with lightening, rain and wind. We got up to a new blanket of light golden brown pine needles all over the back yard, mixed with fallen leaves. Finally the sun came out. While the winds kicked up a bit and the temps started falling, we walked; Mom, myself and Max (the dog). She made it half-way up the street and back again. Max wanted to go further, more smells to smell and all. Tomorrow, more physical therapy. All in all the knee is responding well. She has lost over 30 pounds since coming home. Most of that is fluid, but now her leg is back to the pre-surgery size.

So we keep on keeping on.