Photoessay #276 - The Ginsburghs

I indulge in an old picture once/week. Or so. I have a million of them, many millions. Precious, all of them...to me. I go completely on my gut feel, when I look at them, what speaks to me? Today, right now. I can often discover something in The Ginsburgh Pixs blog, a collection of digitized images liberated from my parents' slide collection. I go through them, what speaks, what speaks. So far, something always comes to me. I've been doing this for about 9 months and something always speaks to me.

Al Ginsburgh, age 40, with his parents Harold and Betty in 1966. In the front of his Wilhaggin home in Sacramento. In some of the pictures you can see a 14 years old me, peeking out of the living room window on the right. My grandparents are visiting, where did they live in 1966??? I don't think they moved to southern California until my parents moved there, not until 1970. So maybe they are living in Florida. Maybe they still have their Boston home, don't know.

Betty and Harold visit their son Allen. They are proud of him and his good-looking family. He never feels that he measures up, that he's good enough to measure up to his own father's achievements and expectations. They are all dressed up, maybe in the late afternoon. Yet, they often wear these sorts of clothes. Where are they going? To services? To the symphony? I doubt they are going out to eat, that was usually not done. My grandmother with her hair 'done' and red lipstick in her characteristic 'good wool suit'. She had a closet full. My father and grandfather also dressed in wool suits. With their ties and formal shirts. Always respectable. Children were not allowed at this event. My mother must be taking the picture.

They make their appearance on the front walk, all is well. Healthy, secure and strong. Actually, I don't have a window into how my father felt then. He did not share this. Neither did he later in life. At age 14, I certainly did not pay attention though he was interested in my life a bit. I certainly wanted to please him. I easily got good school grades, that was major, very major for my father and grandparents. We should all look good and stay quiet. To beHAVE, as he put it.

Inevitably, they have all passed now. But they were looking good in 1966.