This photo is one of my most valuable possessions. If my house was on fire, it would be one of the few things I would worry about saving.
Its a photo of me and my father, Ben Minch, on November 28, 1963. The table is set for Thanksgiving dinner in our dining room in Cranford, NJ, and I was excited because my Aunts, Uncles & cousins were coming for dinner. I was 8 years old.
My father was subdued because JFK had been assassinated less than a week before on Friday, November 22, 1963.
In 1963, the world was rapidly changing. After JFK was asassinated, Lyndon Johnson became President. The US was being sucked further and further into the Vietnam War. Martin Luther King gave his "I Have A Dream" speech and both good and terrible events swirled around the Civil Rights Movement. The Beatles released their first album.
Gas was about 25 cents per gallon, but my father would buy gas at a gas station on the way to New York City that charged 19 cents. A quart of milk was 26 cents. For 50 cents I could go see a double matinee on Saturday afternoon and have enough money for a Milky Way and a popcorn. My hair, which was normally longer, was cut short because someone in the above mentioned movie theater threw a wad of chewing gum in the dark theater which landed in my hair. I had gotten that haircut 2 weeks earlier.
My father was a tool and die maker. On his salary of $4,800/yr. he was able to support his wife and 3 kids and buy a new 3 bedroom house in a nice New Jersey neighborhood. He drove a 1955 pink and gray Chevy Belair.
This is the last photo of my father. Less than a week later, on December 3rd, he was taken to the hospital in an ambulance where he died of a coronary embolism. He was 49.
I still have the camera this photo was taken with, an old Kodak 35mm film camera. It was my father's pride and joy. He was an avid amateur photographer, a love he passed on to me.
This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain 'Kodak Moments' contest. I have the chance to win the KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera.
To participate in the ActiveRain contest, visit the blog post announcing the contest from Kodak and ActiveRain.
My thanks to Kodak and Active Rain for making this contest possible.
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2010 RESA Professional Stager of the Year
Michelle has staged hundreds of Los Angeles homes, many of which have sold with multiple offers, above listing price.
She works with home sellers, listing agents and asset managers to prepare homes for sale throughout Los Angeles.
Moving Mountains Design provides vacant home staging, occupied home staging, color consultations, corporate and executive relocations, move organization, redesign, and interior design. We also stage model homes, REOs,foreclosures and auction properties for real estate investors and asset managers.
For more information about our Los Angeles home staging services, contact Michelle at (626)385-8852 or by email.
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