Carolyn: The Family Portrait (1955)

The family portrait is positioned in an interesting way on a bookcase in my living room. To the far left of it is a very nice photo of my father and mother taken in 1939. The next photo is a snapshot of my grandparents taken in 1943. Finally, there is the studio portrait of my family, taken in 1955. 

The three photographs are all underneath a print of the Georgia O’Keeffe painting Road Past the View II. I favor the print because it reminds me of Death Valley. During the 1950s, we lived in the desert approximately 60 miles from Death Valley. 

The family portrait is the only formal photo taken of our family. I am a freshman in high school and dressed in a sweater and skirt. I am not wearing glasses, so it is possible that I got contacts that year. My dad has on a suit and tie. I am more used to seeing him in his navy uniforms or short-sleeved shirts and slacks. I don’t remember him dressed this way, except for formal occasions. He looks sad and stoic. Perhaps his face expresses sorrow at the loss of his mother six months earlier. 

Brian, my brother, is also in a suit and tie. He is about nine years old. He is standing behind the group. He looks uncomprehending. His positioning is so typical of his role in the family—the youngest child and not fully included.He adored our mother and is standing behind her. 

Mom is wearing my blouse and skirt. I can vividly remember the outfit. The photo is black and white, but I know she is wearing my coral skirt. The blouse has little black specks in it. She didn’t own casual clothes. She tended to wear suits. Mom and I are smiling the obligatory smile, but Pop and Brian are more sober looking. 

The photo was taken in December. A few weeks previously we had been told that Mom had six months to live. She wanted to leave us with the memory of a happy family. She also wanted us to remember her before cancer ravaged her body. It was a good decision. Paired with the 1939 picture, the combination of photos gives a favorable impression of a family that evolved through World War II and prospered in the fifties. That’s what I would like to remember.