#30 of 52 : ALEX AND VICTORIA RAND

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
    As Alex and Victoria Rand looked back on their married lives for the last fifty years as Oklahomans, they could see that God had blessed them. They had three healthy children and were certainly proud to be Oklahomans.

Both Alex and Victoria were descendents from hard workers on each side of the family. They were both from  very large families in Burneyville, Oklahoma. They knew how to share things and to be frugal. Alex and Victoria gave new meaning to the term, “survivors of the fittest.”

Victoria could remember having her own “tow sack” to pull cotton alongside her mother and father and seven siblings. On one occasion, she could remember pulling bolls with snow on the ground. She could remember picking up pecans with her back to the wind and building a fire to keep warm underneath the pecan trees in Southern Oklahoma. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 30 →

#29 of 52 : THE OUTLAW

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
After she died, my grandfather took this and every photo of her and put them in a drawer, and my mother and I moved back to the farm.

He didn’t talk to me much.  He didn’t talk at all, really, except to say, “Pass the ham,” or “Stop fussing, Delores,” when my mother tried to cut his meat or set out his pills.  I chewed my own dinner and watched them negotiate these new boundaries.

Sometimes I walked behind him as he plowed, kicking the dirt with my sneakers.  Sometimes he would say to me, “Good thing you’re here, son.  Now you can learn how to be a man.”  I was seven and had never realized that being a man was something that required study. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 29 →

#28 of 52 : GRACE AND SAM

External Photo Clues:
None

Imagine:
It wasn’t like her to be sentimental. Aching memories of joy seemed like such a waste of time, like blooming flowers at a funeral. Out of place and unwanted amidst so much sorrow. I mean really, would it ever bring your loved ones back? Did they really ever ease the heartache?

Indulging in these fleeting moments had lasting repercussions, but every once in a while, a memory blindsided her – every sight , every sound, every inch of her being was assaulted with that horrible stench of nostalgia.

“Hmmm… I thought I had gotten rid of him,” she said casually to the photograph on the floor. “We were a handsome couple. No denying that. Shame we couldn’t make a go of it.”

Even though she was alone, she felt compelled to keep her outward appearance strong and unaffected. But inside, inside she began the mourning process all over again, as if it had happened yesterday and not eight years ago. Her heart began to palpitate, engaging in that battle she had all too often when he entered her life. The storyline was always the same, smiles and laughter co-mingled with crashing cameos of betrayal and pain. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 28 →

#26 of 52 : WHEAT

External Photo Clues:
Handwritten on the back : “1924”

Imagine:
Pass me my magnifier Merle. My eyes have taken up with the cataracts and I don’t see so well. Continue reading The 2011 Imaginary Family Project – Week 26 →