This is a photo of my dad’s father as a young man. I’ve only seen a couple of photos of my grandpa. Both were after he had a family. I don’t know who gave this photo to Dad. I first saw it on the wall a few months ago among the photo Christmas cards. It looks like one of my sisters wrote on the back, so I don’t know whether it was sent to them or they wrote on it after Dad got the photo.

     When I first saw it, I was pretty sure I knew who it was because it reminds me of one of my cousins. I find it interesting that it’s taken with the “studio” in the background. Dad said this was his dad’s favorite horse. I wish I could remember his name. It seems it started with a D. But that’s all I remember.

     One Saturday after lunch I asked Dad if I could take it to scan and make a copy. Of course he said yes. I work in a photo lab/frame shop. I took it to work the next day and scanned & copied it. Then I laid it beside the scanner & it stayed there several weeks. He asked me about it once & I said I’d make a note to remember to bring it back. Well, I forgot for a couple more weeks. He then asked me if I’d gotten his dad’s photo framed yet.

     At almost 92, Dad’s memory isn’t the best most days. He remembered I had the photo & had had it for awhile. I’m guessing that he thought I’d taken it to frame or I wouldn’t of kept it for so long. So, I knew I should get it in a frame and take it back to him the following Saturday. And I did.

     During this time, he quite often said that he wished he’d gotten to know his dad better. Dad was only 17 when his father got sick and died. I think it was just a matter of days, but I could be wrong about that. I think his dad was a pretty quiet man and he had the burden of raising 10 children on very little money.

     I told Jess that I’d probably give him the framed photo & he’d ask me what it was for. That’s just how his mind goes quite often. So I was a little surprised that he got choked up and had tears in his eyes when I gave it to him. He looked at it for a long time before he handed it back to me & asked me to find a good place for it to sit. I was glad it was framed.

     Here are the other two photos I’ve seen of my grandfather. The one in the covered wagon with my grandmother, I believe was taken during Hoxie’s centennial. The other photo has one of the boys missing. I’m sure my dad is third from the left in the back row.