My Mom, circa 1975, just hanging out and reading Josephus. My Mom Leona Jean Graff Randell Wells has always been one to do her own thing. This shot was taken in our living room in Anchorage, Alaska. She’s probably 28, has 3 kids and is reading Josephus. Most likely, she’s taking a break from painting […]
When I was going through old photos of my grandparents, I discovered this picture of my grandma. I don’t remember my grandma ever playing guitar, but I do remember her playing piano and singing, especially yodeling! My Grandma Rose was the strongest woman I’ve ever known. I wrote this about her for her eulogy: “I learned […]
Just look at my dad being all hipster before it was even a thing. Pretty sure he doesn’t have skinny jeans on though. . My dad never had a mustache or beard normally, but he grew it out special for our town’s 100th anniversary. They were going to have an ‘old settler’s beard & mustache […]
This was my parent’s engagement photo, circa 1976 in Southern Illinois. I love this shot because it is a natural pose in a natural setting. It’s not overdone or forced, like some photography today. No photoshop, no frills, just natural beauty. . Plus, it captures both of them so perfectly and they look so happy […]
Meet my Grandmother, Georgia, with her big hair and her big heart. . Here she is, lounging and looking glamorous while visiting my parents in Alaska in the 1970s. . The local paper, The Nome Nugget, even raved about her beauty. . Unfortunately her battle with MS took her beauty and eventually her life. But […]
The first time I saw this picture of my grandmother, Gwen, my grandfather looked at me with a grin on his face and said, “Isn’t she sexy?” His comment made me laugh, but it also helped me understand his constant love and admiration for her. . I love this snapshot of her because it was […]
This is how my mom looked when she mowed the lawn. Yep, she was pretty much amazing! I love this photo of her; my dad took it. The smell of my freshly-bloomed hyacinths reminded me so much of my sweet mom today. Spring is her season and everything about it is so her. How fitting […]
Some stories need to be told. As the Photo Detective, my passion is solving photo mysteries, especially ones that seem unsolvable! By discovering and deciphering clues in pictures, I can tell their tale. But sometimes it takes the right person to add a key detail that puts all of the pieces together, to reveal the full […]
“When our hearts turn to our ancestors, something changes inside us. We feel part of something greater than ourselves.” -Russell M. Nelson Sometimes, the best way to make sense of the present is to look to the past. After all, our stories started before us and will be continued by the next generation. Today, we […]
These two beautiful young people are my beloved grandparents, Danusia and Tadeusz Bulkiewicz. They both had painful experiences as children, suffering things that no child should ever suffer. My grandmom spend the years of World War II in an orphanage and never wanted to talk about this trauma. My granddad was old enough to be […]
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