Where I Come From

It really has been a blast looking at old photos. I still have a lot more to come, but today I'm going to focus on my fathers side of the family. The photo above is my great grandparents Anna and Jan. They gave birth to Marie, the beautiful young woman in the following set of photos. Marie married Vaclav (pictured next to Marie) and they had my dad Joe and his brother (also named)Vaclav, which are pictured in the last set of photos. 

For me, this is a long line of family history. It seems like throughout the years a lot of photos have not been kept, or have been spread out to different family members. My parents left their home countries in their early twenties, so a lot of left behind. 

Again, this set of photos is of my dad and his younger brother Vaclav. Unfortunately, I was never given the opportunity to meet either Vaclav. My grandfather died in his early 50s and my uncle died when he was 40, both of heart attacks. Clearly heart attacks run in my family, my father had a heart attack in his early 60s and was thankfully given a second chance at life. He's changed his diet and began a cardio routine to stay active. One day I want to be able to meet my grandchildren. For me this means staying active. Heart attacks run on my fathers side of the family and diabetes run in my mothers. eek. I look forward to the day that I can show there photos to my children and grandchildren. Thank you parents for holding on to these memories. 

What a Stud

My mother likes to go on and on about how handsome her father was, what great hair he had and how all the women loved him. Long story short, he was a natural ladies man (at least according to his daughter). By looking at this photo can you guess which one he was? If you guessed one of the fellas with the big ears standing on the side, you are incorrect my friend.  If you guessed the handsome stud in the middle you're correct! The man sitting and taming that beautiful beast is indeed my grandfather. Good hair right? Why didn't I inherit any of those genes? I sure know where I got my forehead from.. 

On a side note, I HATE to make this comparison, but doesn't the hair remind you of Pauly D from the Jersey shore? Ugh, I can't believe I just said that out loud. My mother would kill me. 

European Lifestyle

Everything about this photo SCREAMS Europe to me. Come on now, Five grannies in their undergarments and headwraps. Most, if not all, of them wearing socks with sandals or flats... this is the stuff that movies are made out of! I happened to stumble upon this beauty in a box of old photos. These aren't five random women from the Czech Republic, the woman all the way to the right of the photo is my grandmother (my dad's side of the family). Wasn't she a cutie? I'm thankful that I got to meet her before she passed. The one memory that I have with my grandmother is helping (more like watching) her bake a HUGE apple pie. I was probably only about 9 or 10 years old but it was pretty fun. It's also a coincidence to me that she happens to be holding an apple in this photo.  Maybe this is where I get my baking skills from? I know that she is for sure where I get my curves!

Natural Beauty

This past weekend I went to my parents’ house and found a TON of old photos. This is just one of many photos I found of my mom. Doesn't she look great? Needless to say, my mother was a babe, well what I mean is, my mother IS a babe (she would kill me if I said any different). I don’t know when, where or why this photo was taken, but she looks so angelic. It’s not posed or forced, it just is. The expression on her face really captures her youth. She will correct me if I’m wrong, but this photo was taken in Poland when she was in her late teens/early twenties. I’m lucky to have such a beautiful mama. Not only is she a beauty, but she's stylish too!

Now, let’s talks about this outfit. It’s amazing! I believe this photo is from the 80s but to me this outfit is still completely relevant. Everything goes and the belt is to die for. It really completes the look. My mom has been stylish her entire life, and still is to this day. Looking at this photo is kinda sorta making me want to recreate this ensemble.  

Born to be Fab

In this photo, staring with the top row, my aunt, my grandmother and my mom. Bottom level is my cousin, me and my older sister. 

This past week I started a journey finding/looking/discovering old photographs that my parents have stuffed in boxes. Believe it or not, I've NEVER seen a photo of myself younger then 18-24 months. I came across this photo and was blown away. I mean, I don't want to brag, but to you see that cute baby in the middle? Wearing the pink one piece? Yes, that's me. I must have only been a few months old but quite possibly the cutest baby ever. Ok, I'll stop bragging now, but considering this is the first time i've seen myself this young, I think I have the right.

Any who, There are several other things that drew me to this photo, the furniture, clothing and overall theme to the room. Boy oh boy how things have changed. This is also of of the few photos that I have with all three generations. My grandmother lives in Poland and needless to say, we don't see her that often. When I was a baby she came over to the US once or twice, and I've been to Poland about 3 times, but I haven't been in years. There are the memories that are great to capture in photographs, so thank you to whomever took this photo many many years ago. It's created a great memory for me. 

I've been feeling nostalgic lately, so expect a lot more old photos to come.