Blog

17
Jun

The goal isn’t to live forever, The goal is to create something that will

Posted by | · · · · · · | Featured Family Stories | No Comments on The goal isn’t to live forever, The goal is to create something that will

My grandmother Sylvia Hubbard was born on November 20, 1919 in Ohio. She married after graduating from high school and became the proud mother of my mom and uncle. Her husband passed away early in life and she persevered to successfully solo-parent and raise two wonderful human beings. Professionally, she spent more than twenty years […]

Read More
16
Jun

My Father Vowed to Preserve and Document our Childhood Memories

Posted by | · · · · · · | Featured Family Stories | No Comments on My Father Vowed to Preserve and Document our Childhood Memories

This photo of me and my sister Masha was taken by my father, Eugene Kolomatsky, on Pidgeon Meadow Road, in Flushing, Queens, back during the Madmen years. It was our childhood kitchen, in the house where I lived for over 20 years. It was tiny. These are probably the home’s original cabinets; they seem so […]

Read More
14
Jun

One of the Few Links I have to my ancestors is this old photo

Posted by | · · · · · · | Featured Family Stories | No Comments on One of the Few Links I have to my ancestors is this old photo

My grandfather Sol (top right, in the snazzy pinstripes) left Lithuania in the 1920s, but couldn’t emigrate to the US because of the Jewish quota. So he went to the next best place: Cuba. He lived in Havana for five years, working in restaurants and learning Ladino. According to family lore he had a chance […]

Read More
13
Jun

Growing Gardens of Vibrant Family Stories

Posted by | · · · · · · | Featured Family Stories | No Comments on Growing Gardens of Vibrant Family Stories

My Great Grandfather Bill Clark was an avid gardener, as was his wife Myrtle who took this photo in July, 1969. My great grandparents’ garden was different every year. That’s the thing I remember most and recognize in the images of the garden that great grandad shot on Kodachrome (1960-1976). Always tidy, always weeded. Some […]

Read More
09
Jun

Instantly Framed and Save Family Photos Team up for a Father’s Day Giveaway

Posted by | · · · · · · | Family Photo Resources | No Comments on Instantly Framed and Save Family Photos Team up for a Father’s Day Giveaway

They are the men who shape our lives — past, present and future. They are our patriarchs. In honor of Father’s Day, we’re celebrating patriarchs all week! And we want to see the patriarchs in your lives and hear how they inspire you. We’ve teamed up with @instantlyframed, so one lucky follower will win a […]

Read More
08
Jun

Tiny Treasures and Old Family Pictures

Posted by | · · · · · · | Featured Family Stories | No Comments on Tiny Treasures and Old Family Pictures

My great-grandmother Bergny Evelyn posing for the camera, circa 1907. I love her sassy attitude. She is holding her most prized possession: her doll Cora, a gift from an aunt who had emigrated to America. We still have the doll. I have always loved this photo; it looks like she’s ready to take on the […]

Read More
07
Jun

Generations of Love, in a Simple Old Photograph

Posted by | · · · · · · | Featured Family Stories | No Comments on Generations of Love, in a Simple Old Photograph

“When a person looks at a photograph you’ve taken, they will always think of themselves, their own life experience. They will relate your photograph to their memories. That interplay is where a picture comes alive and grows into something. They function like invitations.” –Jason Fulford My dad as a baby, with my grandmother. I am […]

Read More
05
Jun

Our Old Photographs Hold Worlds of Stories

Posted by | No Tags | Featured Family Stories | No Comments on Our Old Photographs Hold Worlds of Stories

“To collect photographs is to collect the world.” – Susan Sontag In this incredible photograph, my great-grandmother Madeleine and her sisters Therese and Martine sit in an early airplane with their friends in France. It was 1908 and airplanes were making their public debut. People partied and celebrated worldwide. On May 14, 1908, Wilbur and […]

Read More
03
Jun

A Fun Portrait of a Patriarch of Five Generations

Posted by | · · · · · · | Featured Family Stories | No Comments on A Fun Portrait of a Patriarch of Five Generations

My great-grandfather on Venice Beach, California circa 1930. He was alive for only a short time after I was born. I vaguely remember visiting his home, on an orange grove, when I was an infant. When I was born, our family had five generations living at once. It’s very, very rare. There was a photo […]

Read More
02
Jun

The Most Marvelous Woman in My World

Posted by | No Tags | Featured Family Stories | No Comments on The Most Marvelous Woman in My World

It’s been a year since her passing, and I still miss her every day. My grandmother, affectionately known as Munya (the woman getting her leg signed in this photo), was the most marvelous woman in the world. She had a presence that never went unnoticed and will never be forgotten. Though not the typical grandmother, […]

Read More