“My grandmother, her best friend and neighbor, Mrs. Green are the adults. My father is the young boy, the girl in the middle is my aunt and the other young girl is Mrs. Green’s daughter.
It’s one of just two photos I have of my grandmother when she was young. I never got to meet my grandmother, but my father’s stories about her have kept her alive in my life. My family moved to America a few years after this photo was taken, and the move really took a toll on my family emotionally, they missed Ireland more than you could imagine. Especially my grandmother who died an early death due to alcoholism. The photo was taken as they were exiting Cleary’s department store, my grandmother’s favorite place. She loved fashion, beauty and bargin hunting. She was tough and brutally honest. I think we would have been the best of friends if we would have ever met.
This photo is so important to me and to my father. We all just want to be remembered after we die, that is the realistic vision of everlasting life. I’ll keep a copy of this photo and tell my children and my grandchildren about the people in this photo and hopefully, they will tell their children and grandchildren also.
Attached also is a photo of myself and my father in the same spot in 2017 when we travelled back to Ireland for the first time in decades.”
(1955)
Submitted by Theresa McCluskey