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Personal history

Our son Sammy and daughter-in-law Katie gave me a handful of vintage photographs of unknown people for Christmas this year. They came with this note “We hope these snapshots prove inspiring for your work.” They are.

Found photo of unidentified family

I’ve been known to stand for hours at flea market stalls and silently flip through boxes and boxes of old photos. What am I looking for? I don’t know. Well, yes, I guess I do. It’s connection.

When I was 10, our parents divorced. My brother, sister, and I called it “the war.” 

Before the war, with three of us kids at home, our household was bustling. We lived on Summer Street in Royersford where our many friends were just next door. I can still hear the venetian blinds on the front door clang as it was opened and closed a hundred times a day.

After the war, it was devastatingly quiet. I was alone much of the time.

I can see now exactly what I did about it. I became exceedingly charming, ridiculously helpful, and absurdly easy-to-get-along-with. Other nearby families sort of adopted me.

Barbara and Jimmy Vance, who lived in the apartment downstairs, let me hang out with them every day when my mother was at work. I helped Barbara with her two toddlers, Mary and Francis. Mom commuted to work by bus from Mont Clare to Norristown, so it was a long day for her and for me. In the evenings, she dated.

I soaked up the big, loud, Italian-American family of my new, best friend Linda Tartaglia. That first summer, I basically lived with them. I ate polenta. Danced on the coffee table to the Supremes’ “Baby Love” with Linda. I watched her rowdy brothers wrestle on the floor, while attempting to breathe morning breath on each other -- a form of adolescent torture. This family saved me.

So when I shuffle through anonymous photographs, I am looking for a connection. And because I am absurdly easy-to-get-along-with, I never let myself down.

Stop by to see how I’m connecting with vintage photos of unknown people.

Lost Spirits ~ Found Souls
April 4 through May 3, 2014
Phoenix Village Art Center
207 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, PA 19460
Opening reception on First Friday, April 4, 6 to 9 pm
Artists’ Coffee Talk on Sunday, April 20, noon to 2 pm

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