I really thought we had found all the treasures there were to be found in our grandparent’s home. But I guess not. Our home in the Catskills keeps pushing out surprises. This time it was my Dad’s high school diploma and his sixth-grade graduation photo. My brother found it on Saturday, June 18. What a great surprise for Father’s Day!
My brother, sister and I share this house which has been in our family since 1962. First belonging to our grandparents, then our parents and now the three of us. Every once in a while, my brother, who is lead ‘administrator,’ decides we have to clean out some more of the decades of stuff squirreled away in the house. Several years ago, we all went up and worked on the attic and the garage for several days. We filled a dumpster and were physically and emotionally exhausted. (See blogs below.)
Due to the pandemic, my nephew, my brother’s son, has been living in our house. I guess my brother decided to take advantage of his son’s presence. It was time, in his mind, to finally tackle the basement. I was glad I did not have to be part of that cleaning as it is a dusty, damp mess down there. He ordered a ten-cubic-foot dumpster to be delivered to the house. This past week, the two of them focused on filling it up. And they did!
I must say, my brother is not sentimental and is quite decisive in his cleaning and tossing of what he considers useless items. I know because the two of us cleaned out our parent’s apartment over eight years ago. While I had a hard time letting things go, my brother would say, “Do you really need that. Just put it in the to go pile.” We had piles for each of us, for trash and for donating. I will admit that perhaps sometimes when he left the room, I moved things from trash to donate, and perhaps from donate to one of the to keep piles.
So I was really happy that when my brother and nephew did clean the basement, they did a little searching before just throwing. As it was in a box of old broken picture frames that they found these two treasures. The high school diploma is not that much of a surprise, as we knew when Dad graduated from DeWitt Clinton high. (See blog below.). But the class photo was the treasure!
The class photo is from PS 70 in the Bronx, June 1940, just over 81 years ago! Behind the students is an American flag with only 48 stars. Hawaii and Alaska did not become states until 1959. The photo is not in great shape. It looks like it has moisture damage. But the part with my Dad is a bit better.
The boys are wearing white shirts and ties. The girls are in dresses with many of them wearing scarf like a tie. The teacher is a man in a full suit. Our Dad is the boy in the second row, standing behind a sitting girl at the far right of the photo. His abundant hair is obvious.
This photo makes me happy. I love seeing my Dad with his classmates. I sent it to my Dad’s best friend to see if he was also in the picture. But he was not. However, it gave me a chance to be updated on what was happening in his life. My Dad’s friend said: “I think of him almost every day. He was my best friend.” To be honest I cannot imagine one of the them without the other. They met when they were 12 years old. And were best buddies till my Dad died in 2011.
Since the basement is not yet totally cleaned out, I have hope that a few more treasures might come to light. In a way I will be sad when all the alcoves and crannies are clean because I know I will not have any more happy surprises. But in the meantime, I am happy for this Father’s Day surprise.
zicharonot 