I have a copy of a photo on the shelf above my computer that I got from my mom of my great-great grandfather, Charlie Gale, and his mother, Sarah Hoak, taken in Indiana sometime around 1870 when Charlie was a year or two old. It's a cute photo, a cheek to cheek pose, Charlie sitting on the arm of Sarah's chair, her arm wrapped protectively around him (presumably to keep him from falling off). I would post it here, but my stupid scanner broke-- well, stupid me, that's what I get for not paying attention and plugging in the wrong power cord... Anyway, It's the typical old-timey photo where no one smiles. Charlie took it to the extreme with a big pouting frown. It's really cute because he had such chubby cheeks.
Henry saw it one day and asked me why the baby was sad.
"Because his mommy made him get all cleaned up and dressed up in a suit and made him be quiet and sit very still so they could get their picture taken together."
I like this photo a lot. Not just because I'm named after these people (I'm a Sarah, too, and my middle name is Gale: my grandma's maiden name). I like its clarity, that you can see the little details of their homemade clothes, the buttons and tassels on Sarah's dress, Charlie's stripy socks and beat up shoes. I look at the photo and wonder how long it took Charlie to sit still, whether or not he pitched at fit, what they did after the picture was taken. I wonder a lot about Charlie's father. I have no photo of him, just a name on Charlie's death certificate.
I have two other photos of Charlie, one as a young man, bald and mustachioed, and as an old man, a little chubbier, sans mustache, even more bald. The young man photo looks eerily like my uncle Doug.
I like photos because I can stare at the people in them without them getting frightened and starting to think I'm a psycho.
Henry just asked me, "What's die-able sores?"
It took me just a moment. Usually I have to run a mental review of everything Henry's seen or heard over the past week to figure out what he's talking about. But I remembered this one pretty quick. Because Henry likes to watch a certain Power Puff Girls DVD over and over again.
"You mean 'diabological spores', Henry."
"Yeah, die-able sores."
I had to remind him that the evil broccoloid army invaded earth and were surprised when the kids didn't get hypno-zapped like their parents and Blossom says, "Cause we didn't eat none of your diabological spores!"
I had hoped that that episode would help Henry eat his vegetables, but no luck so far.
1 comment:
I do the exact same scanning of the last week of Bo's life to figure out what he's talking about. It used to be because I couldn't understand the words, but now it's to understand the context. He'll ask what some multiple-definitions word is, and I'll want to be sure I give him the one he's asking about.
You described it well.
I had another comp with the uzzack same name as you. Obviously different spelling Gale. But, that's pretty cool you can have such a cute name and it be all family. Sometimes staying with family names can get scary...
Post a Comment