One of her favorite pictures

My grandma enjoyed dolls. She didn't collect them or have lots of them, but she had a couple of very old dolls that she kept for awhile. This photo of her with her dolls was one of her favorites. She loved this picture so much, she had it framed and sitting in her bedroom.

I love this picture...it's so sweet: Those dolls sitting on the chair, my grandma looking like a little doll herself, the snow, the trees (clearly this picture was taken in Minnesota...there are few trees in North Dakota, and none where she lived).

I know Grandma wished she could have stayed a kid a little longer than she did. When she was 14, her dad made her quit school so she could help her mom take care of her six siblings. Her dad also hired her out as a "mother's helper" to other families; he wasn't a cruel man, but they needed the money and she was the oldest. She always resented not being able to finish school like her siblings did.

This picture captured a day when Grandma would have been allowed to be a kid, enjoying her dolls on a winter's day. A fond memory indeed.

Comments

[Tamara]

Okay - where in that picture is a real person - I am only seeing dolls... seriously...

[Stephanie of CreatureBug]

Ha! Grandma is on the far right in the gingham dress:)

[Jen @ The Short Years]

That's a very sweet photo and a sweet story.

[gretchen from lifenut]

Wow! That's an astonishing picture in many ways.

I see you and your daughters in her face, especially that curly hair.

[Karen]

Are those clothes drying on the line?? Brrrr!!!

[Margaret]

She does look like a doll--and isn't wearing many clothes herself. She must have been used to the cold!

[raehan]

Love this photo and love that she loved it. She looks like you and your girls.

This photo makes me think of "Rosebud."

[Sam]

Wow. That snowy background looks unreal.

Okay, I am truly loving your Grandma posts. It's really making me think about my own grandmothers - my mom's mom died before I was born, so I only know her through 'story'. So many differences between now and then. And what a luxury that we are able to give our children the childhood they have...