Because Every Picture Tell A Story

Ruth Landrew Jackson

A couple of days ago cousin Oliver Jackson, Jr., called me and asked me to contact cousin Ruth to get pictures of him as a baby and a picture of his mother, Ethel Williams Temple.  Oliver mother and my maternal grandmother were sisters. After Aunt Ethel passed away and my maternal grandparents legally adopted Oliver as their son. 

After making arrangments to visit cousin Ruth to scan the images. I learned that cousin Ruth is a family archivist. She had envelopes of photographs of her family and some of my family.

Her oldest daughter Sheron arranged the meeting. She told me that her mother kept a lot of pictures and other family memorabilia. I was so excited to hear that she did because a lot of people throw old pictures and family memorabilia away. Some family members will not share family photographs at all.  With today technology a person can share photographs with their camera phone. Sharing the images with others is very simple these days.  This past weekend nine states had tornadoes to take place. Most people can have their homes restored or rebuilt if they had insurance to cover the loss. No amount of insurance can replace the priceless family pictures when it's loss.

Ruth Landrew Jackson
Photo Courtesy of Ruth L. Jackson

She pulled out pictures of her mother, grandmother, and children.  Every envelope had each one of her children names on it. I went back down memory lane with her as we looked at the pictures. Beginning with her childhood pictures to most recent. I didn't know that she was from McComb, Mississippi and migrated to Louisiana with her family.  One of the pictures had cousin Ruth, her mother, and her grandmother on it.  Now her children have grandchildren of their own. I know that one day the grandchildren will look at a picture that has three generation of their grandmothers.

Every picture tells a story and I love picture reading. When we were children and couldn't read we would picture read. We looked at the backgrounds, the clothes, the locations, and the main subject in the pictures. 

I could have sat there all day and look through the basket filled with envelopes of pictures.  Like cousin Ruth, I have so many pictures that I took over the years of family members and different events. Blogging about the images is one way to share with the family.  At our next family reunion, we will have a brief workshop on the importance of preserving our family photo collection.  I would like to sit down with cousin Ruth and help her scan them so they can be shared electronically. 

One of the things I notice about her in the photos was her beautiful smile and radiant beauty. She inherent her natural beauty from her mother and grandmother. Generation of women with poise and certainly having the epitome of grace and elegance. She spends a lot of time with her great-grandchildren these days. Teaching her great-grandchildren the lessons her ancestors taught her. I feel honored that she opened up just a bit of her collection to share with me. I can see the joy on her face when she looked at pictures that brought back so many fond memories.

Sheron and I were looking at cousin Ruth's beautiful hairstyles,  the glasses, and clothes she wore. Sheron laughed at one of her hairstyles that I found very cute. Look like she made her fashion statements as a young woman. I look forward to visiting with her again to finish looking at her collection of pictures that tells a story.