Above is a picture of my Great Aunt Thelma, older sister to my Great Grandmother Corinne, an artist, costume designer and all around Southern California society girl. When I was last at my Grandparent’s house in Framingham, MA. I found and took pictures of a photo album created by Thelma and Corinne in their early 20′s. The black rag paper pages crumble to the touch in places. The leather covers are barely able to hang on to the shoelace binding. It is not in a box or wrapped in archival tissue but sitting out in the upper guest room as if tossed through time.

Corinne was the only one I knew. Thelma died years before I was born. My parents, sister and I would make the trip from Orange to her small apartment, in what was then called Leisure World in Laguna Hills, CA. The apartment was always a little bit dark and packed from floor to ceiling with treasure from her time living in Hawaii and China. She taught me how to play checkers and always ALWAYS beat me. I loved it. I didn’t want to win. Even when the adults around us raised an eyebrow and suggested that she allow me to win every once in a while it was understood by the both of us how utterly ridiculous that would be.  There was too much love and respect there to play generational softball. I knew she was going to be gone soon and I wanted everything from her. Loosing was a small fee to hear stories about being born on an Indian reservation and sliding down bales of hay for fun, then growing up in the hills of Hollywood or traveling all over the world with her Admiral husband.

These pictures are from before she joined Navel life. In fact, most of the boys featured throughout the album are Army. Plenty of time was spent by the ocean or in lakes in Tahoe or Idlewild.

Great Grandma Corinne and friends…

Caption (written in Thelma’s handwriting) General Pershing decorating soldiers at Chatillon sur Seine

Corinne by the sea.

Unknown picture (probably Corinne but the way she is sitting) sacrificed to a locket.

The whole album is a record of a time when the world was in the state of falling down from the crest, right before the First World War and then the Second World War and then the Cold War.  There was so much to come for them, space travel…it’s mind-boggling.