Rare Family Photos: "We met sixty years later"

Last Sunday I presented this photo of a "two family visit" (circa 1953) to Pauline Rose, the widow of Chuck Rose, my dad's best WW2 Navy buddy. Pauline lives in Chippawa, near Niagara Falls, just 2 miles from where she grew up, settled down with Chuck and raised two children.

I located Pauline by tracking down her phone number online. 'Rose, Chippawa'. That's all I could recall from her family's last visit to my parents' house in Norwich in 1961, when her daughter Susie danced 'The Pony' on our front sidewalk.

I wish the photo could have been a better one. Whoever held the camera must have stumbled in the gravel driveway of my parents' first house in Burgessville just as they snapped the photo. I wish it was in colour too. Pauline and Susie's red hair would be a wonderful addition to the photo.

I look so cute sitting atop my 'Fire Chief' pedal car, between Chick (David) Rose and his younger sister Susie. Well, don't I? (When talking about David on Sunday, Pauline called him 'Chickie'.) Behind us stands Chuck with his right hand held by my oldest sister Lannie and his left upon older sister Dale's shoulder. Next to him is my dad, my younger brother Kim in my mother's arms, and Pauline.

My wife took one photo of Pauline and I together on Sunday, about 50 years after our last visit, about 60 years after the above photo was taken. It turned out much clearer, but we weren't smiling for some reason. (Too much on our minds? I don't know.) I'll send it to Susie to see what she thinks before I show it here.

Photo of old photo by GH

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