True Story Tuesday: Telling the Passage of Time

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My brother is getting married on April 3rd. They weren't dating long when they got engaged. Only 10 months, and it's been a bit over 3 months since then. This doesn't matter to the story at all other then to mention that they live in Los Angeles and Thanksgiving was in New Jersey, and being that it's only been 13 months and it's not like they live around the corner, she had never been to my aunt's house. So she didn't know that my aunt is never without a camera and that there could easily be 1,000 family photographs in that house. She doesn't take photos of things, only people, mostly family. I'm family of course, so there are a fair amount of snapshots of me around. And my brother.

So, very soon after we walked in the house my cousin said "Go look at that roll of photos over there. There are pictures of [my brother] when he was little in there." There could be 100 pictures right there just to flip through, at least 50, all at least a decade old, many older, mostly of just my cousins, but many of other family. The best choice if you want to see young pictures of us. Being that they don't live around the corner from my mother either, I doubt she's ever seen young pictures of my brother.

It wasn't long before he was looking at one trying to figure out how old he was. He was doing ok, but he doesn't have the brain for this kind of stuff. It's not his speciality, so I jumped up. "I was 9, you were 11, so and so was... I can tell by my eye glasses." I always had interesting eye glasses growing up (you all should see my mother's) and kids don't keep them long. They grow out of them.

On to the next picture. There are 20 people in this picture, I counted later. Missing are my grandparents and my Grandma's brothers and their wives. It was just the offspring and 2 of the offspring's offspring. No one else's kids had had kids at this point. I was on the couch, the back row, my head barely visible, as I was slouched over, as CPs often are. I wish I could get this picture to post it here, but I doubt if the other 19 people want to be on the internet. There were a few rows of people in front of the couch in a room not big enough for the 28 people that were probably in there, so unless you really, really looked you can't tell what I'm wearing. You certainly can't tell that I'm wearing overalls. You can't see the front of me, it's a very crowded picture and I'm blocked.

But what you can see is a little bit of my right leg. I must have had to keep it sticking out. Elevated? I don't know, this was quite awhile after the surgery. "I was 10. You were 13," I said matter of factly. "Those are the overalls I had when I had my leg in a cast." I said this in such a tone as if to say don't you dare tell me that wasn't when this was taken, because I know that's when it was.

I know because I had 5 pairs of overalls that my mom got me that fall to go over my cast from my second surgery (only 1 leg that time thank g-d). Overalls have wide enough legs to get over a cast, not everything does, pants are hard to find, and overalls were thankfully very much in style in 1995. These were olive green khaki, not plain jean that I have had at other points in my life.

Next picture, me, my brother, our 3 cousins, ages 8, 6, & 4, alone on the couch, same annual extended family Chanukah party. I am indeed wearing olive green khaki overalls. The right leg is pulled up revealing a very ugly cast. It was off white. I woke up from the surgery with it, the surgeon having not asked what color I wanted beforehand. I was pissed. I don't know why I requested my cast show in the picture, but I'm sure I wanted it that way, that I requested it.

A good way to tell time, by a cast on my leg. The way I often tell time. I've had 6 surgeries. And a lot of stories. See last week's True Story Tuesday. Not the way way most people tell time, I am sure. But this is my life, and this is how I tell time.