Thursday, October 13, 2011

Giving Thanks

Last week we had our Canadian Thanksgiving. I look forward to having turkey with lots of stuffing but not this year. Our oven is out of commission. It is too old, broken and parts are no longer available so we had to purchase a new one. I mean, how hard is it to purchase a new WHITE stove. Everywhere we called they had stainless steel or black ones in stock but we have an older home and those just wouldn't fit in. We wanted WHITE to blend in with our WHITE fridge and WHITE microwave and WHITE hot (water) pot. We like WHITE. We ordered our stove a few weeks ago and are waiting for them special order ours in. On the US website I found WHITE is available, but on the Cdn website it is not listed.

Luckily our SIL decided to host Thanksgiving this year and decided to prepare two beef roasts, so we were not without food. Sorry no photos but we had an excellent meal with all the trimmings and managed to take some home for another day.

At the end of our meal, after a tableful of desserts and pie someone brought out a few boxes of OLD, Historic family photos

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we had photos spread out onto three tables, ooing and aaaaing at the old cars, and the way people used to dress, and also photos of family members which were hard to recognize as they were much younger.

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In the old days all you could get were these small black & white contact prints from 127 film. We didn't have fancy equipment back then. I remember when I was 8 years old I was given a 127 Kodak Brownie (no flash). Who knows what happened to it but a few years ago someone gave me a 127 Kodak brownie KIT which included the flash which attached to the side and used flash bulbs. So it is not surprising that not many photos exist of our prior life.

We did not have the disposable income back then to be able to pay for developing and printing a roll of film. It was hard enough to keep food on the table and even strategic highlights of your life are not documented. So it was a bit of a surprise when I noticed the following photo. We got married on June 5th, 1969. We had no photographer and merely just went to the JOTP and had a simple dinner with a few friends and family

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this may be the only wedding photo we have and thankfully rediscovered after all this time. Over the years I have lots to be thankful for

15 comments:

  1. I love going through my mom's photo boxes at home. It is so weird looking at us when we were kids. I remember the brownie cameras, my dad had one, I can also remember burning myself on one of the freshly used bulbs. The good old days.

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  2. Happy Thanksgiving!
    What a wonderful way to spend the day. With family reminiscing over old photos. It's so great what we can do with digital these days, but there is something special about a faded photograph that you can hold in your hands. That's a great photo of you and Mrs Skoot! How cool to rediscover it!

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  3. There's always lots to be thankful for. We just have to open our eyes.

    Finding a picture of you & Yvonne on your wedding day that you were unaware of.

    How wonderful is that?

    Keep looking up & pressing forward!

    Kindest regards,

    Robert

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  4. A well written and excellent posy. Happy Thanks giving to you mate. All the best from NZ. Roger

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  5. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

    Going through old photos is the best way to visit. My brothers and I laugh so much at our past pictures. The hair, clothes and just everything is general is funny to see after things change so much.

    Congratulations on finding the treasured photo too. My parents got married on that same date, only 10 years earlier. Happy Belated Anniversary!

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  6. Oops! That was supposed to read... "everything IN general is funny..."

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  7. That's a wonderful photo Bob, and to think that pink crocs(tm) had not been invented then!

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  8. What a great find. You guys look so happy! I agree with Kari, there is something special about going through old pictures, a sentimentality that digital photos cannot provide.

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  9. Very nice surprise to find the wedding picture. And I remember the old cameras. I remember using my mom's plastic Brownie, then the Instamatic 100 (126 film cartridge and flash bulbs) and those horrible Kodak pockket cameras (110 film cartridge) with flash cubes. I had forgotten about all of those cameras and have no idea where all the negatives went....

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  10. Great photo and Happy Thanksgiving!
    I too miss thumbing through old photos, albums and having Dad set up the slide projector and screen. Even the musty smell of old photographs and boxes bring back memories.
    Now we just gather around the impersonal glow of the iPad, computer monitor or if feeling ambitious hook up the laptop to the television. But on the plus side, we don't lose photos in a move or fire/flood or at auntie, cousin, brother, or mom's house.
    Glad you still have photos to look through and bring family together, it is a rarity these days.

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  11. Happy belated Thanksgiving to you and Mrs. Skoot. I love the old wedding photo, thank you for sharing it.

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  12. Happy Thanksgiving! Family, food and fotos. Great way to celebrate. Love the wedding picture of you and Mrs. Skoot.

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  13. Bob that's something we all need to do. If the old days were less photographed, technology has not been kind in the last 20 years or so. We have a ton of video on all sorts of tapes (Beta, VHS, 8mm). We also have Super 8 footage of a trip to England in 1977. I don't know if we'll ever be able to see those family videos again.

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  14. Bob, glad you found "one". Looking back is an amazing and sometimes mind-altering experience -:)

    Happy belated Thanksgiving to you and Yvonne!

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