Old Family Photos

Rai, since I was thirty (not twenty) years old when you were born, it is likely that there will be a family member or two that will pass away while you are still very young. It may be that you will only see and know them by the old photographs that are hanging on our wall. Throughout your childhood, you may stare at these photos from time to time and wonder what those family members were like, what their hobbies were and what your relationship with them might be if they were still alive today.

Throughout my childhood, I spent many hours gazing at one particular family photograph that hung in the dining room of my childhood. It's a beautiful black and white photo of my Mom's side of the family, having dinner. My Grandmother is sitting with her back to the camera, her hair in braids (she did her hair like that everyday.) On both sides of her are her three daughters, my Mom is the child on the left side of my Grandma.

Standing up with a plate and tea cup in his hand is my Grandfather who died eight years before I was born. I often looked at this photograph and wondered what my Grandfather was like and what our relationship might be like if he were alive while I was growing up. My imagination had no boundaries as a child: through the years, it took only this one photograph for me to create a persona for the Grandfather I never knew.

I never dreamed that I would ever meet anyone else (other than my Mom's immediate family) in this photograph since four people in the photograph had already passed away years ago. My Grandfather's sister, who to the left of my Grandfather passed away shortly after my Grandfather had as did his mother who is also standing up and his father who is at the head of the table. I had no idea where the rest of the family was or if they were still alive, that is, until last weekend.

Last Saturday, Rai, you were lucky to be part of the beautiful Shaffer - Royer family reunion. The woman sitting across from your Great Grandmother in the photograph is Dixie and you met her yesterday. A little younger than your Great Grandmother Jewel, Dixie is spunky and full of energy. She spent the afternoon telling us stories of her youth -- how she climbed to the top of Half Dome in the middle of the night and almost fell asleep on the steps going up to the top, how her husband found out who Black Bart really was and what happened to him. She even told us about her Aunt Nellie who was good friends with John Muir and went hiking with him in Yosemite on many occasions. There is a famous photograph of them together which can be found in the book 'Pioneers and Petticoats'. Her stories didn't end there. She told us how our family collected Navajo baskets (you can see some of them in the photo) by exchanging them for cream puffs to a woman who lived in Yosemite before it became a National Park.

Dixie had just come from Yosemite and had stayed at the Ahwahnee Hotel. The last time she had stayed there was in 1928! She has memories of The Ahwanhee Hotel as more of a geriatric ward than a hotel, and she told us that Curry Village was the place to be seen when she was a teen!

Dixie told us many other hilarious stories and the family photo that I knew so well throughout my entire life suddenly began to change before my very eyes. Dixie's oldest son, Allen, who's next to your great, great grandfather at the head of the table (you can see part of his head), was a teacher just like your parents and lives in San Jose. He has traveled like your parents and adopted a beautiful girl from China, Joanna, fourteen years ago. You also met her on Saturday. He told us a story about recently finding an old, old book in a used book store in San Jose with your Great Grandfather's name in it. It is well known in the family that your Great Grandfather's love was reading and, over the years, he collected literally thousands and thousands of books.

Bob, who is Allen's youngest brother and who wasn't born when the photo was taken, was there too. He is an ER physician and has two sons, and his oldest may just be the next John Mayer (Kevin Royer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JArUCXSSVzc). Richard who is on the left side of the photo was a revolutionary in the 60's and is also a teacher for SFUSD like your parents!

Unfortunately, Rai, you didn't make it into the latest family photo that we set up as the reunion wound to a close since you were taking your afternoon nap. But, you can gaze at the photo for years to come and wonder what a few people were like and if they were alive today what your relationship with them would be like. Lucky for you, in our home, you won't have just one old family photo to look at and dream about. Instead, you'll have a couple dozen thanks to your Mom and Dad. We created an entire wall of old family photos in our dining room. Your imagination can really run wild! I just hope you'll tell us some of the tales that you create about those ancestors you may never meet...