There is nothing like a photograph to take one back in time. One of benefits of childhood is the ability to play make-believe. When you look at the photograph, what do you see? Most people would respond that they see two look-alike kids holding toy airplanes.
At face value, that seems to cover it. Yet, nothing could be farther from the truth. We weren't just two little kids standing in front of our home holding airplanes. I'm certain that we envisioned we were inside the airplanes that we were holding, and that we were amid a great adventure.
Childhood affords one the privilege of making dreams come true even if it is only inside of one's head. It mattered not that the timeline between what we pretended and our being at a place where we could experience what we envisioned was times decades apart. After all, isn't delayed gratification one of the signs of maturity?
Judging from the coats, I'm dating the picture as our first-grade year. When we were kids, we had school clothes, play clothes and church clothes. The knees of the jeans in this picture look threadbare. I'm assuming that these were our play clothes. Mother sometimes used iron-on patches inside the knees of our play-clothes, but she would never have sent us to school looking like that.
From birth through our elementary school years, mother insisted that we dress in matching clothing. Interestingly if ever there was a button missing or a torn pocket, Ronnie always insisted that the damaged clothing was mine. Mother was pretty good with a needle and thread, and she could camouflage the damage. Ronnie always looked carefully to ensure he didn't wear damaged goods.
Like I said, the picture took me back in time and makes me wish I was a kid again.
All My BEST!
Don
No comments:
Post a Comment