Old Photos and Memory Lane

I was going through a drawer today looking for extra stuff for my current project when I came across an unfinished project neatly tucked away full of cards, love notes and pictures from long ago. It brought a quick smile to my face and the faint memory of what I had intended to do with this now dormant project. I now know that it will never be finished,(hell, I never really started it) and that is time do rethink my intentions. So I thought I'd share some of these pics that I had put away and catapult them to another use until I find another home for them.

Clearly the first photo I have no memory of. However, I do know that this is one of three that my mom took of me about a month after my 2nd birthday. The date on the bottom, which you probably cannot see is dated January 1973. (Brrr!). I find it kind of weird to see pictures of yourself when you are that young. It's hard to imagine that this cute and flirty little girl all dressed in red grew up to be me. I suppose I'm still cute and flirty but I am also older and wiser and can be quite bitchy sometimes. How did this curious little girl grow up to be who I am now?

Next we have a most wonderful picture that's almost embarrassing but not quite. I was about 8 years old, wearing a t-shirt from a local play that I was in that previous summer with a turtle that I found in our yard for our grade school turtle race. Yes, we had a turtle race. I guess it gave the teachers something to laugh about and gave the kids something to do. Anyway...I could have cared less about winning the stupid race or having my picture taken with this thing, however we had some guests visiting from England who thought that having a turtle race was highly intriguing, most humorous and very American. They didn't have such things as turtle races in children's schools in England and they were most curious as to how these things went about. I vaguely remember having the race early in our day and my mother brought our visitors to come and watch these tiny American kids putting a number on their turtle and scream at the top of their lungs in order to encourage their entry to cross the finish line. It is a bit ridiculous if you think about it. I am sure that the days of the turtle races are long gone but when I see this picture I think of our friends, Gwen and Stanley, who had this strange but polite way of talking in an 8 year old's world, laughing and thoroughly enjoying their expericence of watching an American Turtle Race. I think it was the highlight of their visit in Arkansas.

And last but not least, a celebration picture with my old college rommie after she finally finished her degree at the school where she had started her college career. I'm humored in the way that when I look at this picture, after all this time, I still look pretty much the same. (I'm the one on the right). Even after years of weight gain and loss, varying shades of hair color, make-up and clothing styles these past few years, I pretty much look like that now. I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I am also reminded of where we were in our personal lives. I was living in my hometown,working in a bar, had a live-in boyfriend and the cats. My 'old roomie', Nan as we had called her (and I still do to this day), was in her first marriage, had a small house complete with their cats and dogs and had aspirations of teaching and writing. I was so proud of her that day. We were both embarking on young adulthood with young adulthood responsibilities knocking on our door. It's been about 10 years since this picture was taken and I think of how different our lives are now. My what changes we have gone through. I'll be curious to see where we are 10 years from now.

Hope you enjoyed my trip down memory lane as much as I have. So who's next to post old pics of themselves and their story??? Inquiring minds want to know. :) elizinashe