This week’s Foto Friday Fun features 12 images from the 63 years of my life. Thanks for playing along. It’s fun to share the memories.
Pam and John chose #1978. Unfortunately, due to a flood back in the 1980s in my parents basement destroying many years of photo albums I am missing a lot of photo documentation thus have nothing from 1978. During that year I worked as a bookkeeper in Carbondale, Illinois then moved north to Downers Grove where I grew up in the Chicago suburbs. I started as a waitress at Sharko’s Restaurant and Lounge and within a year worked my way up to day hostess, night hostess and manager, and banquet manager. I met my (now ex-) husband there and we had our wedding reception there as well. See Sherry’s choice below for me as a bride.
Cheryl chose #1957 “for the year I was born.” So I’m three years older than her. Remember when studio shots were popular back in the 50s?
Ann and Bill chose #1954. The year I was born and named Gail Lyn Olmsted but when I divorced above mentioned husband I changed my name. Wanting to keep the GLOlmsted signature and carry my mother’s maiden name of Loomis, which became my middle name, I mushed together my given name and changed the spelling to Gaelyn. Are you totally confused now?
Patti chose #220. Ray and June, my parents both deceased, during a 2005 winter visit to their snowbird home in south Texas when we went to Padre Island. My Dad loved to drive his Lincoln on the beach.
Jodee and Bill
chose #1971 “for the year Bill and I met.” That year I met Cletus (Arthur Dwight) who I ultimately lived with and did think would be my forever man. At least on this summer day in Braidwood, Illinois, I was in love. But somethings just don’t work out. Anybody else wear those huge owly glasses?
Sallie
chose #1958, “the year our oldest was born.” Another studio shot when I was four. Looks like I was trying out for some dance show. Not. Love the Mary Janes.
Sherry and David chose #1980, the year I was married. I’d worn that Gunny Sack dress to prom, Mom’s lovely cameo around my neck, flowers in my hair, and beneath the dress I wore moccasins. Photo taken outside Sharko’s mentioned above.
Yogi
chose #1955. Taken on my first birthday. I kind of still look like this when I first wake up. BTW, yesterday was Yogi’s birthday so check out his blog and give him a shout. HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOGI!
Mary Lou chose #1969, “the year I got married.” At 15 years old I was still a little young for marriage. I don’t remember being a redhead.
Donna chose #1959, “For the year I was born.” Me at five years old in Kindergarten at Madison School in Hinsdale, Illinois. Still sporting those stinky permanent curls.
Diane and Nigel chose #2005, “the year we bought our house in France.” This is the year I went to San Felipe on the Baja of Mexico with a friend. Becoming addicted to the internet I found this cafe with WIFI. The weird looking dome helped keep the sun off the laptop screen.
Imkeline chose #1997. My first winter on the road solo after divorce. Yet another truck and camper parked on BLM east of Gila Bend, Arizona surrounded by boxes of beads.
The most recent photo of me from 3-29-17 on the way home from Mojave Trails National Monument. Route 66 was closed from here east of Amboy, California. That made it safe to stand in the road for this classic selfie.
Thank you for indulging me with this week’s celebration through the years. You probably know more about me than you ever wanted to. We’ll now go back to the regularly scheduled meme. All the 100s of 1000s of photos I’ve taken are numbered. Yes, I’m anal that way and they’re also labeled. In fact right now I’m seven months behind labeling photos. (If you want to see every 100th photo I label visit Geogypsy’s Facebook page here.) Anyway, I hope you’ll join in next week by leaving a number between 1 and 9999 in your comment below.
Do you have a favorite this week?
Maybe you were giving the world your best Marilyn Monroe in your 1958 photo, Gaelyn. A classic, for sure!
Let’s go with 2080 this week, the year our Lifetime Good Sam membership expires (seriously)!
Hard to say what those studio photographers had to do with us kids looking cute. My parents had a lifetime membership. So you get #2080.
This week’s birthday celebration was great! Love my picture. You sure look wonderful in that great dress. Blast from the past. Your parents don’t look very happy about the beach though. The pictures of you as a little girl are just darling. I totally follow the name change thing. Well done. Good thing you did it before 911, they don’t let you change your name without some official necessity now. Had those big owl glasses myself around the same time. That is a great picture. Love the angle. All this makes me wish I’d taken the time to scan my old photo albums but there were SOOOO many of them.
Thanks Sherry. I figured many would identify with those years. My parents, especially Mom, never appeared very happy. I took an entire winter and scanned what few photos survived. No number this week?
It was fun going through many memories with you. Love the wedding photo!!
#4070
Thanks. Glad you can comment again. I took your advice and did an update on the theme. Wonder if that helped anybody. Have you down for #4070.
Love the wedding dress..l would like to use #5353 for nxt week. Hubbys birth date.
Rosemary
Thanks Rosemary. Have you down for #5353.
Enjoyed them all- especially the wedding dress. Please put me down for 4717 for next week. Mary Lou
Thanks. I loved that dress. Have you down for #4717.
I really loved this post and it is such fun to get to know your earlier life now that we have met in person. I quite like the idea of moccasins under the wedding dress, I would have felt much comfier if I had though of that :-)) I also like the cover to keep the glare off the computer :-)) I need one like that, this time of the year the sun is high and I have a sky light right overhead in my office!!
Have a fab weekend and 704 for next week please, still keeping to dates! Diane and Nigel
I’ll bet you can make a cover for glare reduction. You get #704 for next week.
This was a lot of fun as always — Loved going through your history — and I loved the studio portraits, because of the memories with our four. (Their grandparents usually paid for them.) And then they were still popular when our older three grandkids (now in their 30s) were toddlers, so we were able to pass that forward by taking them. It was kind of a big deal getting your picture taken! And now of course the younger grands and our great-grands get their pictures taken every time they sneeze it seems like — just as much part of their daily routine as eating and sleeping!
May I have 4820 next week? It’s part of an address I just keyed in for someplace we’re going tomorrow.
My kids had photos from school that I no longer have. I’ve never been camera shy. My mom called me a drama queen. You get #4820 for next week.
Fun, fun, fun!!! Love the adorable you in love in big glasses. But the wedding dress is my favorite. My prom dress was Gunny Sack as well, but didn’t think to get married in it – smart!!
Loved those dresses. No number?
I love this series of photos of your from long time ago to just last week. Just looking at those early pics and trying to figure out if they predestine where you are now. Hard to say in childhood but I can see as you got older.
You have had quite a journey and I am glad you have shared so much of it with us.
And thank you for the Birthday Greeting.
Thank you Alan. Hope you’re still celebrating. No number this week?
Curls were all the rage back then.
Next week: #507
And a perm was the only way my hair would be curly. Have you down for #507.
What a fun collection of “a walk down memory lane” photos this week! I loved them all.
Next week #230 because why mess with a good thing?
Thanks Patti. That was fun. Have you down for #230.