This is the house I grew up in. It’s located in what used to be a small town, a tiny suburb of Saint Charles, Missouri. You might know it’s larger next door neighbor, Saint Louis, much better. That tends to work for me when I tell people where I’m from. I just say Saint Louis […]
This is a simple story about the American Dream. Pictured here are my in-laws, John Arrington and Doris Kirkpatrick, on their honeymoon in 1953. It was the second marriage and a time of new beginnings for both of them, so they decided that they wanted “nothing fancy,” and eloped to Tijuana, Mexico. Then, then traveled […]
One of my most precious family treasures. My Grandmother’s autograph book. This page is inscribed by my Grandfather, who was then only an admirer. Dated 1922, it says “may your memory of me be like the sun dial, always recording the sunny hours and times. Ps. When you feel naughty, think of me.” I kind […]
This is Ruth Shepard and Alvin Holmes in the summer of 1937 before they became Mr. and Mrs. Holmes and long before they became my Little Grandma and Grandpa. My Grandma Ruth built this cabin on Big Sandy Lake in Minnesota with the help of friends while she was single and in her early 20s. […]
My mom’s beautiful smile is the only thing that could distract from the aching nostalgia of seeing the World Trade Center in this 1972ish photo of the two of us from New York’s Liberty Island. I was born in New Jersey and after a few years was raised in my mom Kathy’s hometown of Rochester, […]
As a young boy, I would often stay at my grandparents house over the weekend. The spare bedroom I slept in had a varnished, wooden box on top of the wardrobe that opened out into a writing desk. Inside it were an assortment of black and white family photographs of my parents, grandparents and other […]
Mama bear and me, 1981. My mom was 36 when this picture was taken, which is my age now. I am her baby and the youngest of four. Shortly after this photo was taken, my mom made the difficult decision to leave my father (deservedly so) and raise us on her own. She took multiple […]
The man holding the camera is my dad, Max, around 1969-70. He was a journalist, musician, artist, photographer, businessman, local alderman, and community activist. Most important, he was a husband and a father. He loved to travel and the souvenirs he collected were friendships with diverse people. Today we say farewell to him and honor […]
Meet my parents Moulay Said and Elkamla, pictured here with my aunt in the early 1960s. This portrait was taken in Morocco, a few years after my parents’ wedding. It represented the start of a new life together. They were leaving the beautiful city of Fes for a new season of life in Casablanca. Although […]
Mama’s birthday is today. She would’ve been turning 86. Here we are, thick as thieves in December of 1961, with my beloved Gund Cubbi bear, that I still have of course. I was 2 and she was 32. Lots of our photos are of me standing on something, mostly cars it seems. They waited later […]
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