Norwood and Colleen Jonas in April 1961

I scheduled this in December 2018 to post in April 2021.  It is a few years in the future, but it would make it 60 years from the occasion.

This photo was in a stack of photos Jackie made available to me.  I don’t know what the occasion was, but I believe it is the only photo I have of my Grandpa looking this dapper in a bow tie and light-colored suit coat.

As I looked at the photo longer, it dawned on me I have that suit coat.  It is a light mint green color.  I wear it once in a while.  I called it my happy coat.  I am happy that I can wear a suit coat my Grandpa Norwood wore.  Now it seems I have a picture of my Grandpa wearing it.  I will have to wear it and get a picture of myself in it and share it here.

Isn’t it interesting how photos can help connect the generations?  I was born within 20 years of the picture, and then at 60 years after the picture I find myself transported by it.  This is a miracle of our generations that most of the history of the world never could have imagined.  Sure, there were paintings by those who could afford them, but their likeness and emotion probably doesn’t ooze out of those paintings like a photo can sometimes capture.

Despite what the future would hold for their relationship, I also see a happy couple.  An adoring wife with a proud husband.  They were married 15 years by this point and the fact is they still adored each other.  3 children were all in the picture and loved.  Within another 15 years it would be a broken marriage and his death.  I amcareful not to judge, but from my perception a few poor decisions created the damage.  What would happen if we could tweak or change just one decision in their lives?  Might I have known my Grandfather?  Might I have grown up in a different home?  All speculation, but our lives truly do turn on small hinges.