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 here
is an old family photograph, similar to those taken of many
families that immigrated to America between the 1890s and
1920s, that has always fascinated me.
The subjects are my
maternal grandparents, their four children (one of whom is
my mother) and my grandfather's younger brother. Why is he
in the picture? If one believes in photo analysis as I do,
it is interesting to interpret what is going on from looking
at the position and expressions of the seven people. Of course
I have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight.
This is not a quiz! My mother, who was about sixteen or so at the time the picture was taken, is quite beautiful. She is also the only one in the picture who is smiling. This is so typical of her that even now that she has reached the ripe old age of eighty-five and is living twelve hundred miles south of New York, I know that smile is still her finest physical feature. For me it was a light.
She stands directly behind her father and between her older brother and her uncle. My grandparents, seated with hands dutifully resting in their lap or on their knees, are staring rather blankly at the camera, their youngest daughter aged three or four sitting between them. No one is touching the other although upon closer scrutiny there is the slightest of possibilities that my grandmother's arm might be brushing her little girl's shoulder as if to reassure this littlest of the group.
All are dressed in what are probably their finest and newest clothes, the men all have their ties knotted up, jackets buttoned carefully. Their shoes have been highly polished so the flash of light at the picture taking reflects off their tips. The ladies' hairdos are certainly not the result of a recent trip to the beauty palor or hairdresser, but are nonetheless beautiful and neat. My mother's hairstyle is a rather daring boyish bob that she is obviously proud of.
A strand of pearls encircles my grandmother's neck. There is a small ring on the finger of my grandfather. I think I remember it. My grandparent's eldest son has a small pin in his lapel, probably some high school honor he has won, not academic, maybe athletic. There is no other jewelry in evidence.
The somber expression on all but my mother and her elder brother is unsettling. They are sharing some secret. My grandfather's brother looks too nonchalant and disinterested. He is anything but!
Here's the answer to the riddle. My grandfather's brother falls in love with his niece, my mother. They will be married about five or six years after this picture is taken. They elope in Elkon, Maryland, because they cannot get a license in New York State. I am born about eleven years after the picture is taken.
If I could get in the picture now I would stand between my parents and hold them around. I would also be smiling. I would pay special attention to my grandmother whom I can't remember. She died when I was three or four. She looks wonderful in the photograph! Hey, it's a nice grouping . . . .
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