My Grandmother's Attic

Today I came across these two pictures of my Dad.  

The first one was taken some time when he was in the Navy obviously.  I have no idea when or where.

I have no idea when or where this one was taken either.

I used to love my grandparents' attic.  So much old stuff up there.  

I used to keep all of my dolls up there and would pretend it was my "house."  My cousin and I would spend hours up there playing dolls.  In the summer it was oppressively hot, and in the winter it was freezing.  We didn't care.  It was our "house".

I found my mother's wedding dress up there and my aunts'  bridesmaids dresses from different weddings that they were in.  

There were a lot of old telephones and a Morse code transmitter (my grandfather used to work for Western Union).

I remember when I found my Aunt Ettie's braids.  Her real hair braids.  They were in some kind of bag and I remember being freaked out touching the hair while pulling it out of the bag.  I can't imagine what that haircut looked like.  They must have just cut the braids off for them to still be intact!

I found my father's old Navy uniform and letters that he had written to my grandmother while in the Navy.  I wish I had those now.  They probably got tossed when Dot and my grandmother sold the house and moved into a condo.

There were two huge pictures in very ornate frames up there.  One was the picture of my Dad on the tricycle, and the other was of Dot when she was a child.  Dot never liked her picture and at some point took the picture out and put dried flowers in the frame.  My Dad liked his picture and eventually took it to his house, probably when my grandmother moved.

I was 29 when Nan and Dot moved, lived in a brand new house, and never thought or cared about all that old stuff anymore.  Paul brought home some of my grandfather's tools and the old telephones, but most of the stuff in the attic got thrown out.  Maybe it's a good thing; one can only keep so much. What I wouldn't give to go back up into that old attic again though!