Some family treasures

Yesterday my husband and I had plans. I woke up sick, so the plans were not followed. Instead I tended to my gross cold and worked on the kittle.

My husband went to the storage locker that houses the STUFF from his parents' home. He came home with a giant bag and told me that I would love what he had brought home.

My husband knows me well. My husband brought home a giant shopping bag filled with photos. I will share just a few with you today.

Some of the photos were really old.

This is Velvel Krupnick, my husband's great grandfather, and his wife whose name we do not know. Velvel was a miller who came from Tulchin which is now in the Ukraine. At first i assumed that both of them were old when this photo was taken, but the longer I looked at their smooth, unlined faces, I realize that they were both probably younger than I am now when they sat for this photograph.

This is Velvel's son, Leib, Louis in English,my husband's grandfather. Louis emigrated to New York with great dreams of becoming a successful businessman.

He was a man who survived some booms and many financial busts. My husband has some memories of his grandfather who suffered from dementia during the last years of his life, probably from his years using lead paint as a house painter.


Here are my in-laws in front of the house the house they bought in East New York Brooklyn at the very end of WWII. The house is still standing.

We had seen very few photos of my mother-in-law's mother, Toba/Tillie. This bag of treasures includes several. I love how she is addressing the camera here. 

One of the items in the bag was a booklet I had put together for my mother-in-law near the end of her life. My mother-in-law suffered from dementia. To tell the truth, we all suffered from her dementia. During my mother-in-law's many hospitalizations she would forget the things that mattered most to her and get anxious.

I made a booklet with photos that reminded her who she was and who the people she loved were.My mother in law liked to know who her relatives were, how old they were and when there birthdays were.   I just looked through the book and see that she added some notes to it. Those months were so full of stress taking care of her that I had no memory that I had put that booklet together. I'm glad that I did.

In that big bag were also two sweet photos of more recent vintage.

Mu husband does a trick for little kids where he can make his face squeak. My older son is attempting to do that trick. Such a sweet image of love.

Here are my two big kids in Riverside Park. We have purchased lunch in the bagel store across the street. Our third child is a newborn. In a few minutes I will take a photo of my big kids holding their new brother.