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November 26 marks the date of my father(Jerry)’s birth. He died in June 2020 at the age of 92. November 26 is also the birthday of my oldest daughter. Thanksgiving and their birthdays are always linked in my mind.

I recently received a couple of photos of my father as a young boy that I had not seen before. Fortunately his name, Gerald, is noted on the back. Unfortunately, no year or place or occasion is noted.

At first glance, I thought he was holding a box, but he is holding whatever it is with his fingertips, so it can’t be very heavy. Maybe a large sheet of paper? A school project his mother wanted to document? His mother, I assume, positioned Gerald by the side of a building and in front of a pretty bush and is the shadowy photographer. Gerald looks about five or six years old. What do you think?

Another photo pictures older brother Myron (left) and Gerald. It appears to have been taken from the same roll of film, but probably not on the same day since Gerald is wearing a collared shirt in this photo.

Gerald is holding a man-sized lunch pail and Myron has something behind his back. Maybe the boys share the lunch box and Myron is holding a book satchel they share. Gerald’s clothes fit him well, but Myron’s jeans are those purchased by a frugal mother – rolled up and held up – while he grows into them. The boys are neat and clean – maybe waiting for the bus on their first day of school. A reasonable guess, I think.

And who knows, maybe these are before and after shots with that collared shirt now unbuttoned and fallen down behind the overalls and neatly combed hair now pushed to the opposite side after running around on the school yard.

Enough maybes and guesses for today.

The Sepia Saturday prompt photo features a closeup of a boy in a deck chair. Sit back, get comfortable, and visit Sepia Saturday to see what others have shared.