
On the weekend, my mom brought over some old film photos, as I said I wanted to take pictures of them. This is one of them.
This was taken at my grandparents' cottage in the summer of 1998, probably by my uncle Gary, as the baby would be my cousin Ryan, who just turned 28.
Everyone in the front row, including the dogs and excluding Ryan, is dead now, so a picture like this really hits me emotionally. I knew all of those people for years before they died, and I remember their voices and the way they were as people.
Standing on the left is my paternal grandfather, Les, who died in 2011. Seated next to him is his father, my great-grandfather, Les Sr., who died in 2014 at the age of 104. Next to him is his wife, my great-grandmother Gladys, who died in 2005. Next to her is my maternal grandmother Rita, who died most recently in 2024, and next to her is her husband, my grandfather Harold, who was the first here to die, in 2003. The dog on the left is Del, my paternal grandparents' dog, who died sometime after we moved to Ontario (2004 or later), and the dog on the right is Holly, our family dog, who was less than a year old in this picture and died in 2010.
I'm on the left in the second row, in the white shirt, wearing my first pair of glasses, which I would replace later that year. Next to me is my brother David, then sister Heather, then cousin Jennifer (big sister to baby Ryan), then grandmother Helen, who just turned 88 a few weeks ago. Since 2024, she has been my only remaining grandparent.
Standing in the back are my aunt Vicki (Ryan's mother), my mom, and my dad, who was two years younger in this photo than I am now.
__________
IMG_3802ap