One of the relative surprises during this trip was to see some pictures which, in some respects, either I had not seen for many, many years (decades even, really), or in some cases, don't remember ever having seen at all. In many cases, many of these pictures I had largely forgotten existed at all.
So to see some of them after so much time has passed was incredible. It felt like an opportunity, one not to be missed.
What I wound up doing was taking pictures of the pictures. Yes, I know, the quality of such pictures deteriorates. But since I could not take those pictures back home with me (they did not belong to me), it felt like this option was better than nothing. So I went ahead and took some pictures of the pictures.
And then, on the final morning with my family, I decided to slow it down, and take better quality pictures of those pictures. Making sure to take them out and then carefully align them so as to maximize the quality.
For the most part, they seemed to come out fairly well. Not great, probably. But some of them came out looking pretty decently.
There were pictures here which were familiar, or should have felt familiar. Class pictures for both my brother and myself. Pictures from when the French family visited us in the United States back in the summer of 1983. Pictures from the trip to Belgium and one town in the Netherlands which we went to back in the summer of 1985, and which I had not even known existed. I suspected that they might exist, or have existed, but figured that they were long gone. Surely, there are many pictures from other trips and moments which probably are gone.
That reality, however, made these pictures feel like a real treasure.
It felt like these should be shared as soon as I got the chance. Also, I wanted to fix some of them up, at least a little.
Now, I should note that in some cases, I took multiple pictures to make sure that they came out okay. And last night, I finally fixed some of these up and, in some cases, made alterations. It was a mixed bag, in terms of whether these alterations actually counted as improvements or not. So, not wanting to risk anything by potentially losing any quality of these pictures (remember, they are pictures of pictures, and thus lesser quality than the originals), it seemed like a good idea to keep any alterations to a minimum whenever possible.
Here they are, in any case.
Enjoy.
Picture of my brother (above) and my (below) with our first cat, with the not entirely original name of Catso, back in the 1980's.
These were some of the pictures which I treasured the most, because they brought back some memories. Above was from one Halloween (not sure which year). Not sure what my brother was supposed to be, but I was obviously a pirate. As for the picture below, my brother obviously was dressed up as an Arabic sheik of some sort, while I admittedly have no idea what I am dressed up to be. However, the jacket that I am wearing brought back some memories, as did the wooden panels of our old house, which can be clearly seen in the background, as can the sofa pattern in the above picture.
Here are some pictures of the old house in West Milford, back when it was white, and also had a screen door. Somewhere along the line, we lost the screen door. It might have been intentional, like when my father patched the house up and painted it blue. But it might have come off accidentally. Parked in our driveway is, I believe, the old Datsun Sentra, before it became Nissan. Below the pictures of the house, there is a picture of my brother pretending to drive my father's old pickup truck for work (he was a professional house painter). These pictures also really brought back memories.
A picture of the rear of our house taken from the backyard in West Milford, with our aunt posing near the back door.
This particular picture brought back memories, particularly of my father's pickup truck for work. Indeed, seeing images of the self-made advertisement for his work really brought back memories. My brother sits behind the wheel, still obviously too young for driving.
This picture above was from my childhood. At the time, I loved football, but was divided between whether I should be a fan of the local New York Giants or the much flashier and high profile Dallas Cowboys. Ultimately, I stuck with the G-Men, but it's quite amusing to see these pictures of me dressed up with a helmet and jersey of the Dallas Cowboys. Dressing up like this (it was Christmas of 1981, I believe, and not Halloween) made me quite happy at the time.
Not sure if this was a class picture or not. Think it might have been, actually, based on the blurred background, which often is a professional photography kind of a thing. But I added it to this section, where I am wearing all of these football jerseys. This was the old Fran Tarkenton Vikings jersey/sweatshirt which I had, and remember well from my youth. Have some fond memories of this particular jersey/sweater.
Here is a picture of my uncle Pierrot (my father's sister's husband) with me. I think that I am pretending to drive. Also, I am almost sure that this picture was taken in front of their house in Taverny. There are other pictures of me wearing this same Jets jersey below, as well.
My brother and I, probably in my uncle's van. Still wearing the vintage Jets jersey.
A family photograph. I believe that this was my cousin Fredérique, her brother David, me, my aunt, my cousin (mother of Fredérique & David), my brother (seated) and my uncle. Believe that this would have been taken in Villepreux, although I could be mistaken.
A picture of my father, most likely from sometime in the 1980's. Something tells me that this was on the ferry ride to the Statue of Liberty with the French family during the summer of 1983.
My cousin (daughter of my father's sister's) splashing my brother. Likely during the summer of 1983, somewhere in the United States.
A picture of two boys sleeping. My brother is pictures above, and I am pictured below. In this picture, I can really see the resemblance with my son when he was really young. In fact, if I had not known that this was me, I might have assumed that it was him.
A picture of the family - my brother in the red shirt and on the bicycle on the left, my mother and father (seated), and me on the smaller bicycle. Not entirely certain where this picture was taken, or how old it even is.
Pictures from Leffond, France
Class Pictures:
Class pictures from unknown year. The picture of me (above) and my brother (below).
Pictures From Our 1985 Trip to Belgium & Hulst, Netherlands
Some Other Pictures (Random):
A picture of my aunt, although I have no way of knowing where or even when this was taken.
A picture of my brother, possibly from the 1985 trip to Belgium. However, there just is no way of telling for sure. Also, I have no idea who the man in the picture is.
Another picture of my aunt. No way to really know where this was, or when it was taken, for that matter.
A few pictures of my brother and I at a very young age:
