Every Photo Tells a Story

My dad was born on July 22, 1926. Today would've been his 86th birthday but he died of heart disease in 1983 at the young age of 57. Yes, I miss my dad. I was very close to him---much closer to him than I am my mother, who is still alive, but that's not what this blog post is about.

This blog is about the photo you see to the left. It was my dad's high school graduation picture---taken in 1944. I never saw this picture until after my father passed away because he apparently never kept a copy or it was lost somewhere. But I do recall him telling me the story behind the photograph.

The photographer who was originally hired to take the pictures of the graduating class backed out when he discovered he was photographing "negroes." According to my dad, one of the students in his class went home and told his dad about the situation and his dad made arrangements with the school to take the graduation photos. This dad was a farmer who apparently had an interest in photography but couldn't get any steady work in the field because of his race.

He proceeded to take pictures of the graduating class---all 19 of them. My dad says he doesn't know if the school paid him for his services but he remembers his mother (my grandmother) sending him to school with some change to give the school when he picked up his picture.

Had it not been for this unknown photographer, I probably would've thought my dad never graduated from high school.

Mama's Warning about Menopause is Subject of New Ebook

Baby Boomer Author Beverly Mahone is taking a short break from her “I’m Still Hot…It just comes in Flashes now!” Summer Tour to introduce her brand new ebook: Mama Said There’d Be days Like This. “My mama was notorious for handing out warnings. She had a warning about everything---from dealing with men to dealing with menopause!” laughs the author.

But it’s what her mother DIDN’T say about menopause that Ms. Mahone says were the red flags she discovered later in her own adult life. “My mama never talked about the “M” word but her bizarre behavior ended up being clear warning signals for me. She taught me more than I could ever read in a book about what to expect.”

In addition to her own writings, the new ebook also contains essays from baby boomer writers around the country who share their own “warning experiences” from dear sweet mom. It covers everything from the dangers of eating the wrong food to what happens when you choose the wrong career.

Ms. Mahone, who is also the author of the best-selling book, Whatever! A Baby Boomer’s Journey Into Middle Age, says pre-orders are being taken right now at a special discounted rate before the book is officially introduced to the public on July 2. For more information, you can visit her website at http://www.thebabyboomerdiva.com

“This is the kind of book you’ll want to share during your July 4th cookout or family gathering and it’ll definitely make you reminisce on your own mother’s warnings”, she says. “Then ask yourself, just how many of those warnings did you end up having to learn the HARD way?”