Thursday, June 13, 2013

A Nostalgic Father's Day



Soon we will be celebrating Father’s Day.  My


Oliver W. Madden,Sr.
Dad has been gone for quite a number of years now, since the fall of ’87 at the age of ninety-one.  He was almost twenty years older than my mom and was in his early fifties when I was born.  I still think of him often. He was a wonderful, hardworking, intelligent husband and father who generously provided for his seven children.  I am the youngest.  
                                                                  
My sister, Sandra, moved to California shortly after college and would receive letters from Dad.  Somehow I never thought much about this, not until Sandra downsized and moved into a senior community.   She told me she was digitizing all of her important papers and asked if I wanted the last few letters my father had sent her shortly before his death.  I welcomed the letters feeling a bit envious, for my father had never written to me.  I lived in driving distance of my parents, looked after them as they aged, and became my father’s caregiver after my mom died. 

 
We all have areas in our homes where we display family pictures and mementos, honoring those in our past and present.  



For this Father’s Day, I copied one of my father’s letters to my sister .  . .

on vintage looking paper and .  .  .


 pasted a cropped family photo of Daddy sitting in a chair surrounded by family. 



 My family, left to right:   Sister, Sandra, brother Bill, Mama, niece, Patricia, brother, Oliver,Jr., me, nephew, Oliver,III and Daddy.   Unfortunately, there are only three of us left in this picture, Sandra, Patricia and me.  I have an older sister, Margie, still living, whom I've given the title of Family Historian.

                              The real letter was placed just behind in a frame.  

 Having scripted paper in the handwriting of my father as the background for this family photo means so much to me, and I will cherish this keepsake always.  I'm so glad I thought of doing this.


                            
                        
                       Happy Father’s Day!


                                                         










                          


4 comments:

  1. Gail what a beautiful and touching tribute to your dad and to your family!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Personal letters are so often filed away-out of sight and out of mind. Yet, what you did is a way to evoke memories every time you pass its display.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a wonderful way to remember your father Gail. Such a lovely keepsake!

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  4. What a beautiful memory to display Gail!!!
    My girlfriend's mother was illiterate and after she passed away they
    found a sheet of paper where she was practising her " signature "
    Each of the children now have photocopies of that page framed in a place
    of honor in their home.
    There's something even more personal about someone's handwriting then a photo!
    LOVE what you did :)
    XOX

    ReplyDelete

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