A Picture's Worth

A picture is truly worth countless words!

A friend just posted a vintage photo on Facebook.  Two young ladies, apparently barely out of high school, with a rather dour-looking older woman in the foreground,  all three seated on what looks like either the stern of a boat or a bench overlooking a lake.  The girls look is relatively timeless, although the older woman's hat places the photo in the 1930s.

Turns out it was shot in Scotland, on a trip the girls - cousins - took in the '30s.  (Small wonder the aunt looked a trifle dour - not always a lot of fun chaperoning even the most well-bred young ladies abroad!)  The girl in the middle - Morna, a distinquished "ancient" (as my Mom would say) in her 90s, generally regarded by one & all as a living treasure - had given it to one of her nieces to post.

Impossible to imagine the impact seeing that one photo will have on so many of us youngsters, who will smile with memories of Karen, of Morna, of Miss Creda.  To see that Miss Morna's smile - known by so many of us  from thousands of math classes, from being greeted by her as principal, from it being flashed to us as we pass by her - remains basically unchanged over the years.  And that Mrs. Cole - Karen - projects the same quiet quality I always sensed when I was a classmate of one of her daughters.  Funny seeing Miss Creda look like she'd just tasted something sour, as I can't recall a time when, as a white-haired "ancient," she didn't invariably have a warm smile for me.

So many memories, all stirred by one snapshot.  

Impossible to imagine how many memories would be stirred by someone with "real-time" memories of Morna & Karen in those younger years.  And it's a spur to me to get Cyber Access for the Technically Timid up & running asap.  This blog - Sneezing Chickens - honors the stories in our lives.  By making CATT a success, I'll open up to so many of my older friends access to countless memories, priceless moments.

Still thinking about all the different responses to that one photo, all the different memories stirred by all the FB friends when they spotted it, when many shouted out to someone, as I did, "Hey - you've gotta see this!" What is a picture worth?  More than any of  us can imagine!