Resources untapped

When I was born, my Grandpa (my mom's dad) was 60 years old. He was still farming to a certain extent while I was in elementary school. Mostly, I remember that he always had soft peppermint candies in his pocket. I do not recall ever spending "quality time" with my grandpa. He was not in great health and was no longer living alone by the time I was in 5th or 6th grade.

This photo (from the family flotsam and jetsam) obviously was taken outside Kiowa County, but I was never aware that my Grandpa ever traveled!

The occasion for his travel is a mystery to me!

My mom and dad moved frequently before I was born, and after, until my dad passed away when I was almost two. Daddy's work as a welder took us from Texas to Canada building pipelines. I think Wisest Sister attended something like 23 high schools before she graduated from GHS. (That might be an exaggeration, but it was a lot!)

I don't think we ever lived in Arkansas, though, so Grandpa wasn't visiting us when this photo was taken. (Plus, it is not a slide, so my mom didn't "snap" it!)

It may remain a mystery unless someone else has the answer. Of course the folks who would surely know, my Grandpa and my Mom are no longer with us. In my family, we are pretty good about identifying the folks in photos on the back. We have some "unknowns", but not many. We are not as good about identifying the occasion.

When The Boy Cousin was visiting a couple of weeks ago, we talked about Aunt Ruth's diary and some of the surprises in it. One surprise was that Aunt Ruth apparently didn't graduate from High School. TBC thought that he had seen her in the Gallery of Graduates before the tornado. I always assumed she had graduated, because I have a photo that was always attributed to be her graduation photo. Dear Aunt confirmed to him, though, that Aunt Ruth left school before she finished.

She also added that Grandpa, Aunt Ruth's brother always was envious of Aunt Ruth because she got to go to school as long as she did, since he didn't get to go to high school, at all!

He always seemed kind of "prickly" to me when I was little, but I wished that I had the opportunity to know my Grandpa better. I guess learning through sharing our collective memories with my sibs and cousins is next best...