Happy Mother’s Day: mothers and babies
Okay, who are these three dark beauties?
A hint: one of them is the very first picture you’ve ever seen on this blog of neo-neocon, sans apple. Not that you’d recognize me, of course. Even my own mother might not recognize me from this photo.
My own mother, you say? Of course she would. Ah, but she’s here too, looking a bit different than she does today—Mother’s Day—at ninety-four years of age. Just a bit; maybe her own mother wouldn’t recognize her, either.
Her own mother? She’s the one who’s all dressed up, with longer hair than the rest of us.
The photo of my grandmother was taken in the 1880’s; the one of my mother in the teens of the twentieth century; and the one of me, of course, in the 1950s.
Heredity, ain’t it great? My mother and grandmother are both sitting for formal portraits at a professional photographer’s studio, but by the time I came around amateur snapshots were easy to take with a smallish Brownie camera. My mother is sitting on the knee of her own grandfather, my grandmother’s father, a dapper gentleman who was always very well-turned out. I’m next to my older brother, who’s reading a book to me but is cropped out of this photo. My grandmother sits alone in all her finery.
We all not only resemble each other greatly in our features and coloring, but in our solemnity. My mother’s and grandmother’s seriousness is probably explained by the strange and formal setting; mine is due to my concentration on the book, which was Peter Pan (my brother was only pretending to read it, since he couldn’t read yet, but I didn’t know that at the time). My mother’s resemblance to me is enhanced by our similar hairdos (or lack thereof), although hers was short because it hadn’t really grown in yet, and mine was short because she purposely kept it that way (easier to deal with).
My grandmother not only has the pretty ruffled dress and the long flowing locks, but if you look really closely you can see a tiny earring dangling from her earlobe. When I was young, she showed me her baby earrings; several miniature, delicate pairs. It astounded me that they’d actually pierced a baby’s ears (and that my grandmother had let the holes close up later on, and couldn’t wear pierced earrings any more), whereas I had to fight for the right to have mine done in my early teens.
I’m not sure what my mother’s wearing; some sort of baby smock. But I know what I have on: my brother’s hand-me-down pajamas, and I was none too happy about it, of that you can be sure.
So, a very happy Mother’s Day to you all! What would mothers be without babies…and mothers…and babies….and mothers….?
You all are adorable, in your seriousness. And very different, despite the familial features and color.
Hurray to us, mothers, and to our [perpetual, even in their adulthood] babies!
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RE: My mother’s resemblance to me is enhanced by our similar hairdos.
How very true!
I have a picture of my mom at age 5, and my older sister, at age 5.
Same harido.
Unless you knew who was who, forget about guessing. ;-D
When my neice was 5, my sister refused to do a 3rd edition, but when she was 10, she did, and it was just as I knew it would be.
The same. ;-D
We don’t have any baby photos like that, but we do have a photo of my… double-great? grandmother Finley, and darned if my mother isn’t getting close to a dead ringer for her. (The major difference is that my mother has kept her teeth, warding off the Punch look.)
She’s been scanning photos of her as a young mother, and it’s weird to me to see how much I resemble her, since I was always said to look like Dad. Those Finley genes win out in the end.
Cute as three buttons. You can look behind the eyes and see synapses firing away.
Happy Mother’s Day to everyone!
Finley? crikey! My mom is a Finley from Pittsburgh. The internet doth make the world a small place.
You look very concerned for such a young age. When did the apple appear?
Happy Mother’s Day to all.
When did the apple appear?
Why, neo’s the apple of her mother’s eye, of course!
Happy Mothers’ Day in your family. Love the pics!
My mom had my ears pierced right there in the hospital. I hear that it has been common option for quite some time now, but back then (1961) everyone was scandalized. Or so I’m told.
I read your blog for some time, greetings from Spain. You seem nice, even without the apple.
A belated Happy Mothers Day!
I called my own mother on the day itself…
The pictures remind of this quote:
Genetics is the science that tells you why you look like your parents, or if you don’t, why you should.
Happy Mother’s Day to all.-“~