Polaroid Summer

These are part of a small group of Polaroids that were taken one summer when I was about six. I don't know who owned the camera or who took the pictures. Was it my Dad? Or Uncle Patrick? Either way I like how close up he got for these portraits. Who cares about the background? It's so nice to see the faces! You can tell that in my family we weren't big on *smile and say cheese,* it was more come as you are. I like that. I wonder about this shot of me. Was I upset or just uneasy with the camera? Hmmmm.

This is a fabulous picture of LaLa Pat. Stunning, huh? I think it just hints at the style and grace that is Patrice the First.

And the above photo is of my mother GeorgeAnne, or later in her life, she was known simply as Annie. She's there with my great grandmother Katherine who I remember as being very proper and a bit cool, so this photo with her head tilted towards my mother shows a tenderness, maybe speaking to the joy of that warm season.

I like this photo of my mother for a number of reasons. One is that I think this angle of my mother shows some of the resemblances we share. Eyes? Nose? Face shape?

This final photo is one I haven't really looked at in a long time and I have to say it very stirring for me. It's my mother and father. Look how beautiful they are! So beautiful and so united. I'm trying to just let that in and not feel the sorrow and grief of missing both of them. I'm not wanting to feel the pain of their separation and divorce. I want to remember this summer. I hear it was a summer of laughter and joy and togetherness.