Are You In My Photo?

Looking at theaternut50’s photo of the North High Journalism group from 1969 makes me nostalgic for the good old days until I remember that the old days really weren’t that good at all. High school was painful, life was hard, the future was uncertain. Come to think of it, nothing much has changed. Anyway, if you have high school photos to share please do! Especially if there is a “mystery person” in them. You may make an unexpected connection!

Tweetie72’s photo “mother and daughter” reminds me that there is a huge category of “strangers” in our photo albums (besides folks who just randomly wander into the frame). Those strangers are, of course, our ancestors whose photos we have inherited, but whose names and exact relationships we can only guess. If you have any of these “family strangers” lurking in your photo collection please post them to our site. Maybe someone out there can tell you who that is standing next to great-aunt Mildred. Maybe you’ll even discover a long-lost relative. You could be on your way to a much bigger (and more interesting) family reunion!

I guess one sign of age is that the holidays become increasingly about “the way it was” and not so much about “the way it is”. Looking at the picture “Santa and Me” makes me extremely nostalgic for the old Riverside Plaza and the train to the North Pole they provided way back in the day. It was a clever way to get parents to shop for a few hours while their kids were whisked away on a magical journey to visit Santa Claus. I love my family and really do still enjoy the holidays, but it seems like nothing can ever compare with those good old days. What are your fondest memories of the season? I would love to know, and if you had some photos to share that would be wonderful. Jingle bells!

Looking at the photo “Black and White together in faith” reminds me how thankful I am to have had parents who went out of their way to make sure I grew up surrounded by friends of many different races, cultures and religious backgrounds. It has made my life so much richer and fuller than it would have been otherwise. I hope you have many things to be thankful for this year, too (and perhaps you might even share some with me).

I was shocked last week to learn that I had missed the entire Redlands Theater Festival season. I did have time to rush out and see the final performance of a fine production of the play “Shipwrecked!”, but I was sad that I couldn’t see any of the other shows that played in repertory over the summer. My daughter asked what I remember best from our many years of attending the Festival and I immediately named “The Robber Bridegroom” starring my late brother Steve Foreman. I would really enjoy seeing other photos from this production if anyone has any, and I would also like to see photos from other summer theater festivals around the country (past and present). Please share!

It seems like forever since I have been able to take a real vacation, and looking at mormor613’s photo of New York makes me long to go back to the “city that doesn’t sleep” (although maybe not in the hot muggy summer). If you could go anywhere in the world right now and money was no object, where would you go?

I was looking at the photo of my brother Steve Foreman when he appeared in “The Robber Bridegroom” at the Redlands Theater Festival in Prospect Park many years ago and it made me wonder if any of our members saw that production, or any of the other great shows the festival has produced over the years? If not, have you ever been involved with an amateur theater production of any kind?

Looking at Ed Sidorski’s classic photo “t.v. repair school” makes me really appreciate how fast technology has changed (click on the link above and you can enjoy the photo too). I wonder what the young people in that photo would have made of the new-fangled electronics that dominate our lives today. Do you remember getting your first color television? Or your first video cassette recorder? Do your children (and grandkids) even have a clue what you’re talking about when you tell them about it? Let us know. And while you’re at it, why not share your photos of “antique” electronics? It would be interesting to see if we had any of the same “stuff”.

It is the month of love again, and we are going to ask the same question we did last year: If you could receive a Valentine from anyone at all, living or dead, real or fictional, who would it be? Or, if you could send a Valentine to anyone at all, living or dead, real or fictional, who would receive it?

2008 was quite a year. Is it “good riddance” or “sorry to see it go”? What are your hopes for 2009?