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I recently found a box with about 2500 slides that my dad shot in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. I am quite sure that I have never seen most of these before so it has been a real pleasure to delve back in time to the early history of my family.

Both of my parents are gone now.  Mom was the victim of a long battle with cancer, passing away at the age of 49, when I was 16.  Dad succumbed to the ravages of 30 years of diabetes at age 62, when I was 27.

Seeing these slides has let me see them again as they were as young adults, recently married and just starting our family.

The carousel at the top of this post contains some of the better photos – the more picturesque ones, some that are just interesting to me, and in a couple of cases remind me of others in the family who are also gone. My dad was on active duty with the US Navy in 1951-1952 during the Korean conflict.  Some of these slides were taken on an around-the-world cruise that his ship took to Hawai’i, Japan, Singapore, India, and Italy.

Of course, there are many more than these few and I spent an entire weekend living “in” them as they were scanned.  I poured over small details, remembering furniture, dishes, clothes, clocks and “things” that I grew up with.

These long lost photos are a treasure to me and bring my family back alive in my memories.    Seeing my parents before the tragedies of their illnesses encourages me to remember how precious the gift of life is and compels me to try and live it more fully.

I hope you enjoy these photos.  There are more to come!  Watch for subsequent posts with more.