bathing beauties

1943

My father took this picture of my mother, barely 17, with his Brownie. When he gave me the print, he said, “Every daughter should have a picture like this of her mother.” I am still puzzling over that. Every daughter should have a picture of her mother as a teenager, newlywed, object of desire? What about every son? He died three years ago  at 94, and he can’t tell me. I can’t show it to her, either; she died almost a year ago at almost 91. I am glad to have my own Botticelli, a testament to my mother’s beauty, and my father’s ability to see it. And it reminds me that old people are also young.

    Meanwhile, my mother’s youngest granddaughter, 17, was in my apartment recently and noticed a resemblance. “We’ve got the same elbows,” she texted. I encouraged her to restage the pic. The main difference is not in appearance, but in attitude—perhaps based on the fact that my niece’s picture was taken by her older sister rather than her newlywed husband.

2018

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