Late in life, Mom gave me the brown tweed suitcase that housed the treasures of her youth. She passed it on about twenty years ago. I knew of the suitcase because I examined its contents several times while I still lived at home.
My first look took place when I was in the seventh grade, working on a science project. I was doing a study of twins. We had several sets on our family tree and she knew there were pictures in the case I could use.
I spent a couple of days examining the many photos and documents crammed into the case. It was filled with history. I found the pictures I sought and developed more questions as my family’s history revealed itself. This picture shows my cousins, Gail and Gwen, sitting with me in Grandma and Grandpa Tebo’s backyard. We looked a bit like refugees seeking asylum. We three were born in the post war years to two army vets and their wives.
There were several documents in the case that helped me discover the truth about my lineage and the twists and turns a simple family can hold within its history.
There were hundreds of pictures, several birth certificates, a couple marriage licenses, and my dad’s military papers. She’d also saved congratulatory cards regarding my birth and a stack of birthday cards from my first birthday. It contained Mom’s collection of movie star photos: Greta Garbo, Mae West, Joan Crawford, Dick Powell, Miriam Hopkins, Robert Montgomery, Marlene Dietrich, Gary Cooper and Rudy Vallee. Some were photos garnered from “Modern Screen Magazine”, while others were snipped from newspapers of the 30’s and 40’s.
Although she never went to college, there were college pennants from the University of Kentucky. There was also a portfolio of several chalk drawings she’d done. The thing that intrigued me most were the dozens of post cards she’d saved. That’s when I first learned of her collection.
TBC