Posted 5 years ago
IronLace
(928 items)
It's my birthday tomorrow, & in the spirit of taking stock of one's life, I thought I'd share a little of the past (CW's the perfect place for that).
1. Well, this is where I am now, in a very good place. I am so fortunate to have a nice house & somewhere to display my collection & make art. I'm getting some new cabinets soon so there will be a bit of upheaval while I assemble them & move stuff around, but hey, it will keep me off the streets, LOL.
2. This is a photo of my father, whose name was Franz. He was born in the former Yugoslavia in 1930, emigrated to Australia circa 1950, & passed away in 2003. I have no idea of when or where this photo was taken (except that it was somewhere in Australia in the early 1950s). It looks like a camp of some sort, with those huts. Perhaps a migrant camp he lived in for a while. I also have no idea about the gun, which is almost as big as him. This curious photo was sent to me by some distant relatives in 2008. He'd sent it "back home" in the 50s sometime...but he lost touch with them by the late 1960s. It was interesting to see a photo of my father as a young man, as he was in his 40s when I was born, & had no old photos to show me. We are so alike in many ways, but unlike me, he never was one for possessions. He was not a collector in any shape or form, just a kind, gentle sort of person who loved gardening, animals, & nature in general. He was rather melancholy & serious but had a whimsical sense of humour, too. He called me "chip off the old block" when I was a little kid, & you can see why...although I did get a bit taller than him.
3. This is my mother Audrey (right, in the black dress) & her mother Lillian (left in the red jacket). Audrey was born in 1934 & died in 2018.
This photo was printed in the 1990s off an old colour slide taken in the early 1950s. I think my mother was about 20 here, which would make her mother around 40. As you can probably tell, they were two VERY different people. They did not get on at all. I'm not going to go into all the tragic details but let's just say that some folks are like two chemicals which should never be mixed in the same test tube, unless you want to create an explosion. A relationship like that can (& did) set in motion a whole bunch of issues that lasted for generations. Even after they were both gone (Lillian was born 1914 & died 1999) the repercussions went on. But - despite the sadness & difficult times...I choose to remember the nice things about my mother Audrey. She was quite a dramatic person. The black dress is out of character for her, as she usually wore red, pink, & bright floral prints. She had an artistic side that was never fulfilled, & became a dedicated op shopper in her middle years (out of financial necessity in those days...though later for fun...collecting Australian pottery & all kinds of random knick knacks).
My folks met later in life (yes, my mother had another family in the late 1950s, but that's another story that I shan't delve into) & their first date was a trip to the Sydney Royal Easter Show. They met on a bus going to work in the early 1970s. Both worked in factories in the same suburb.
This photo was taken somewhere on the North Coast of New South Wales.
Happy Birthday! Hopefully you can go somewhere and celebrate.
Many thanks, Brian!
I believe that a yard picnic of some sort is on the cards. But maybe a drive somewhere as well if we get the time (my partner is working from home & has to do Zoom meetings, which largely involve listening to the boss droning on pointlessly for a few hours...)
I'm popping out to post a parcel (sold an item to a person who'd lost their house in the fires...& the item is going be a small start in rebuilding a lost collection) & hopefully pick up my prescription at the pharmacy (it's a drug for autoimmune arthritis which is now in hot demand as some believe it can help with the dreaded virus. I just hope I can get my supply as over the 3 years I've been taking it it's changed my life).
HAPPY BIRTHDAY from us in Houston Texas! I love the photos and story and I think it's kind of you to share the story with us during the historic time. Although your parents did not collect glass, I know they would have loved your collection as much or more than we do. What you have achieved is amazing and we only see it in parts. Life is usually shorter than we plan but you appear to plan well and seem to use your short time here quite wisely. Love peace, good health and joy to you today and always.
Happy Birthday from down the road, Marin.
Thanks so much TreasureTex for your lovely, thoughtful comment. It is much appreciated & I wish you all the very best too!
My parents saw that I was a natural collector right from the start...my first one cost nothing - I'd peel off all the price stickers from the groceries after we went shopping. I saved them & stuck them on my wardrobe. I was definitely an oddball sort of kid, but to their eternal credit they didn't try to make me into someone else, just accepted me for who I was, which was a great kindness. I've had my struggles with physical & mental health over the years, but have come out the other side so thankful for what I've got & what I've managed to achieve. One of my personal mottoes is "do the best you can with what you've got", & the other one is "I am what I am & I do what I do." :-)
Received with many thanks, Kevin! Take care, my friend!
Happy birthday, Marin!
You look so much like your young father! Marvelous to get those old family photos :-D
Thanks so much, Pascale!
Yes, I was so lucky to get this one of my father. He'd lost all the rest of his papers in a fire at a boarding house that he lived in...& when he met my mother he had an overnight bag & that was it! Got quite a few of my mother from her childhood onwards. As to me, not very much early evidence remains, for which I'm grateful...me & photos did not get along very well until very recently, LOL...
Happy Birthday, Marin! Family histories are interesting with all the twists and turns- thank you for sharing yours.
Your parents and grandmother were beautiful people, as you are yourself!
Happy Birthday, Marin. Your photos are wonderful. Your mother and grandmother and father — beautiful people. One can almost “see” the spirit of both beautiful women. Are you certain that photo of your father is from the 1950s? Could it be earlier? His clothes, his hair — they could make the argument for earlier. Thanks for sharing.
Carpe diem amigo.
Thank you most kindly, Patricia!
Thanks also, Daisy1000! As to the photo of my father, I know next to nothing...all I know is that he'd sent it back to Yugoslavia after he'd emigrated to Australia. It is possible that his clothes & hairstyle are somewhat outdated due to him him being a refugee & probably quite low on finances at the time. He'd travelled around a bit between the end of WW2 & before coming to Australia. He worked on board ships for a few years in that time.
Well said, artfoot - & that I did, in a low key sort of way. The yard picnic was simple, but most enjoyable. Now looking forward to sampling some home made cake tonight! :-)
Hey, happy birthday Marin! From my view each year your birthdays become better and better, so I hope you have enjoyed your day and enjoy who you are and where you are at.
A great view into your family, and lots of tales to tell. Yes I see the physical resemblance to your dad but the artistic side is surely from your mum? How great they let you be you. Those who travel a different path are usually the most interesting in life!
Here I am, post - cake (it was fabulous) & many wines the worse (or better) for wear...& I thank you my good friend Karen for your warm wishes & kind thoughts.
For sure, every year's been better & better for me...I'm so fortunate that things have fallen into a good shape at last, & whatever the future holds, I know that I've known myself.
Yes I dare say that my artistic side comes from my mother...she was very good at drawing & could copy any picture. But I think a fine balance was struck with my father's character, which was very meticulous, practical, & down to earth. My mother wanted to go to art school (& wasn't allowed) but having gone through the whole experience, plus later worked as a teacher, I sensed that her character would not have worked so well with the criticism one regularly faces in the context of art education. You need to have just the right combination of natural ability, enthusiasm, openness to learn new things, self - belief, & simple hard work. I was lucky to get the best of both worlds from both of them.
I was so fortunate too that they let me be who I was...both being such very different people themselves. It wasn't easy but nothing was (is) easy. It's all just an ongoing process of figuring things out... :-)
Happy birthday ,I wish I could find David Bowie ,singing Happy Birthday,I would send it
Many thanks, Vynil33rpm...& in the lack of such a wondrous thing, let us content ourselves with the immortal phrase:
"I'm happy, hope you're happy too..."
Happy Birthday from central Texas!!
Many thanks keramikos & what a cute namesake! :-)
Thanks so much Craig, from high in the Mountains!
Sorry I missed your birthday Hope every day is a happy one .. interesting ...x x x x x
Hey Marty, nice to hear from you...things are going pretty well, lots to do around the house & garden...
Just stumbled upon this. What great photographs! I do a lot of family tree research and I'm always looking for new (old) photos.
am i on time this year or late again ... '- ) H B
Thanks so much, vintagelamp!
Rambojoe, whatever..?