This prompt comes around every year, giving me a great excuse to look back through the images I have scanned over the past few years. Today, I share several photos in a series. My mom copied them from an album that belonged to my paternal grandmother Malzie Elizabeth Silcox Hahn. They were take in November 1990, I believe it was probably Thanksgiving. As families do when they get together, someone had the siblings and parents stand together for a picture. I believe they’re standing outside Papa and Grandma’s house in Beulah, Escambia County. I was living in South Florida at the time, so I wasn’t there to have any idea what got them tickled.
Left to right, Tony, Sidney (the family called him Marty), Mickey, Steve, Betty, and my dad, William D. “Bill” Hahn.
My dad always wore hats – sometimes a ball cap, sometimes a cowboy hat. Having just had a skin cancer removed from my nose, I can understand the wisdom of those hats, especially since my dad was balding for most of my life.
I don’t think it was this particular cowboy hat, but he had one, back in the ’70s, with a hatband to which he affixed small squares of Plexiglas mirrors in different colors. They were tilted, like diamonds, and would sparkle in the sunlight.
It’s so interesting to see my dad in his leather jacket, Aunt Betty in her sweater, and the others in short sleeves. Perhaps they thought they’d only be outside for a few minutes, so why bother putting on something warmer.
I don’t know if anyone ever managed to get a picture with all of them looking clearly at the camera. These are the only ones I have in the series. It’s such a joy to see everyone smiling and having a good time. As I write this, only my Uncle Tony and Aunt Betty are still with us. I like that future generations will have candid photos like this to see the personalities of their family shine through.
Rhyme Schemes and Daydreams 