Family History

This week has been income tax week for me. Yes it takes me that long to find and gather every receipt under the sun that I so inefficiently stuffed in a plastic bag all year long waiting for tax week. Anyhow, I digress from the point.  During my annual ritual I went hunting through our old desk that we rarely use in the age of laptops and recliners (LOL) for some envelopes and found an old photograph. The photo was of my grandmother and grandfather on my mom’s side, her brother and his wife, and two of her first cousins and their wives – there’s an extra wife in there and we have no idea which cousin she was married to who wasn’t in attendance, lol.  The photograph was taken at the famous Copacabana Club in New York City and thankfully dated 1947.  I also have to thank my grandmother for having the good sense to make everyone autograph the photograph sleeve (which is how we know there's an extra wife by her last name). While I recognized my grandparents and her siblings, the first cousins were not as easy!
 
The nice thing about all this is that I still keep in touch (made easier thanks to Facebook) with a third cousin whose grandparents were also in the photo. She recognized the other first cousin to our grandparents but couldn’t tell which wife was which. Truthfully don’t you think the two women on the left side of the table look somewhat similar?
 
I wonder what will happen to all of these photos (My mom has albums full!) as the generations continue to pass. I am thinking of putting together one large scrapbook-like album with all these miscellaneous photos, labeling them as best we can, and handing it down to whoever is interested in being the historian and keeper of the originals. (I have some early photos of that same grandfather’s sisters. In couple of the photos they were so young, and it was so long ago, that none of the surviving generation knows which sister was which - so labeling would be seriously helpful if we can figure out who everyone is!)
 
My grandmother is front on the right side of the table (she had great legs! Fanny Brice’s second husband Billy Rose stopped short in a club one night and told her so- lol) My grandfather is in the middle on the left side between the two women we don’t know LOL.  The gentleman front and left was my grandmother’s brother, and the gentleman beside my grandmother was the grandfather of my third cousin I still keep in touch with.


​Just for fun, here's a photo of that third cousin and me. We were about 8 and 9 the year my mom and I visited her family one summer!  That bathing suit was definitely not my color! LOL. And wouldn't I kill to be skinny again! but again I digress!   


Curious, does anyone have a historian of sorts in their family? Are you like me and go all tingly over old family discoveries? Let me know in the comments - love chatting with fans. 
 
As an aside – I did get to go to the Copa myself when it reopened in the 70s on prom night! Spent weeks singing the Barry Manilow song:  “At the copa, Copacabana, the hottest spot north of Havana!”  Though I’m actually pretty pleased that I made it to both the Copa and Havana in my lifetime, but that’s a post for another day!

And remember it's appreciated if you let me know in the comments that you've popped by and if you're enjoying the blogs! 
 
Enjoy your week! 

---