My grandfather on the right, and his brothers in 1944.

My great grandmother’s hobby was photography. I have whole albums of hers scanned from as early as 1909. They are especially touching to see because they are candid, exploratory, and casual photos from an era when photography was pretty formal. Looking at her pictures has inspired me to switch careers and become a photographer myself.

Here she photographed four of her five boys on the family farm in Beagle, Oregon. Ernest, my grandfather, is on the right. He was born in 1922 and has outlived all his siblings and three wives. He also beat cancer in the 1990’s he says it was all thanks to his doctor who told him, “Ernie if you want to live another three years you have to stop smokin, stop drinkin’, no more red meat, and eat more veggies….and if ya don’t want to do that you can find another doctor!” So Ernie quit the next day and has lived another 20 years.

He is my hero and I send him giant lettered postcards from all the cities I visit. ~shared by @ranissance