Family Chronicling

The role of Family Chronicler seems to be a genetic thing.  I really had not thought much about that until this past week when I was taking pictures of pictures (don’t have a working scanner) for another family member.

The following statement will only make sense to those of you out there who are also Family Chroniclers, but I have at least 25 scrapbooks/picture album spanning 40 years of family life.  Those collections have to do with only the Dean Diehl family.  There are also collections of memorabilia relating to my mother’s family with information going back in time to her great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War as a teenager and as an adult, was an itinerant Free Methodist circuit riding preacher.

The collection of pictures and information on my Dad’s side of the family don’t go back as far but do include an account of his mother’s maternal uncle and cousin being gunned down over a dispute regarding the yield of a corn field.  An especially sad outcome to that story was that the fight left behind a single mother with several children still to raise.

Back to the Family Chronicling—my mother filled that role because she had a camera with her everywhere she went.  I think she had some sort of box camera by the time she was 10 years old.  Growing up, I thought of Mon’s picture taking as a great nuisance.  Every family get-together, she insisted that everyone line up for her pictures.  She didn’t have much of a concept of natural action shots but now, many years later, I am grateful for at least some of those many pictures.

In the present century the gene pool seems to have selected our son, Brian.  He is definitely into taking action shots plus taking the funniest faces he can get people to make.  If I can find one, plus figure out how to insert it, I will do so.  That, of course, will mean that my Learning Curve will once again climb, so wish me luck!

 Woo-hoo, I did it!  However, these are obviously not funny faces.  I guess you could call them funny feet.  And with that, I think I should sign off.