flipping through some family history

Over this past week or so, one of the things that has helped me cope with my grandpa's passing and all the stuff I was experiencing was combing through old photo albums that my grandpa and aunt kept around. Even now, it's a bit theraputic to be able to look into the past and see what my family was like. Back then, the albums weren't really arranged in such a neat order, and they weren't really organized into its current state until about 2 years ago when my aunt sat down and took on the task.

I still remember huddling around some of these albums as a kid, and listening to my grandpa tell the stories around each of these pictures, and explaining his life experiences to me as I marveled at the images on each page. He'd regale me with tales of his college days, what life was like in california in the 40's, how our family almost went to taiwan, and how my dad used to walk miles to school (uphill both ways - some things never change). I, of course, played the wide-eyed kid soaking up all of these stories.

Originally I had wanted to bring back some of these pictures for my dad to see, but since we couldn't find the negatives, and I wished to keep the original albums intact, I ended up taking pictures of the pictures (so some had glare). I might as well share them, since I had them on my camera:

it's pretty cool to see my grandpa grow up on one page - this has everything from kid to graduation to working

my grandparents over the years - this album page remind me of the opening scene in Up.

my dad's family back in 1962

my dad with my grandma and her brothers - clearly the awesome hair genes didn't make its way down

dad, with what would appear to be a weird looking snowman...or a snow-turkey?

my dad growing up - he must've really like the emo poses

dad after college, working, and meeting mom - I don't know why, but he wasn't much for smiling in pictures

heck yea I smiled, apparently this was the first time my grandpa got me a coke...it was magical

Flipping through pages of these single frame stories were a good way for me to distract myself ever-so-slightly from everything going on around me. It helped me put things into perspective. The person lying in the bed in front of you isn't just someone you love dying, there's the full measure of the human experience of life, the memories, the joys and pains, the childhood laughs and the growing pains of adulthood. It was good to see the life my grandpa enjoyed before my eyes, my mind filling in the blanks of the stories that the pictures don't tell.

Well, it's time for me to go to bed. Have a good night.