The week 2 prompt (yes I’m hopelessly behind) is “Favourite Photo”. This is a really tough one. I love all my family photos especially the ones that I’ve managed to gather from times past. We can research our ancestors through records, we can pass on family stories from older relatives, but nothing beats the value of a photo. This is where we put a face to the name. This is where the ancestor becomes real. This is our sole opportunity to look into their eyes and make emotional connections.

I fear that the good old “family photo” that was passed down to future generations is becoming a thing of the past. These days we use our phones to take photos. We email these photos, we share them on social media, but will they be available for future generations? These photos tend to remain in cyber space, they remain in our devices, they don’t usually get printed and find their way into photo albums.

Earlier this year my Aunt Fay passed away and I was one of the people who helped in sorting out her possessions. There were literally boxes of photo albums to sort through and I came across so many gems. Honourable mentions go to a photo of her grandfather, my Great-Grandfather, Albert Restall, which taken when he was just 19 years old, a young man in the Navy. I have other photos of Albert taken much later in life, but at the risk of sounding ageist there’s something special about this photo as it is the only one I have of him as a young man.

Next there was a photo taken at her wedding that included her father, Cornelius O’Brien, my Grandfather. Unfortunately, I never met Con and this photo is one of a few that I have of him. He abandoned my grandmother and my mother and Aunt for his mistress who had born him a son.

I had earlier found a Trove article relating the story of how Con entered a burning building not once but twice, in order to rescue an elderly man and his wife. The article included a photo of Con. To be honest, I much prefer the grainy newspaper photo of Con to the wedding photo. Possibly this is because in the wedding photo he is well-groomed and posing. The newspaper photo is more candid and shows more of a glimpse into the actual man. I must confess when I found this Trove article I stared at Con’s photo and I kept coming back to it to stare again. This man, for better or worse, is my grandfather. I never knew him, and since he has long passed away I will never meet him. But I do find myself returning to this photo over and over again.

 

But, to return to the challenge topic: my favourite family photo. This really wasn’t easy to pick and I dare say as I continue to research my family it may very well change. But for now its a photo of my Aunty Alice’s wedding. This photo is one of the gems I obtained while sorting through Aunty Fay’s extensive photo collection.

So why did I pick this photo?

It’s my Aunty Alice’s wedding. ..Aunty Alice… The very person who inspired the title of this Blog: The Restall Gene. Growing up, I heard so many stories about Alice, and most of these concluded with a reference to “The Restall Gene”. So this photo is Alice embarking on her adult journey through life. I have no actual first hand memories of Alice. I wish I could remember her. I wish I could remember her husband Harold “Mudge” Bates”. Unfortunately time dictates otherwise, and I must rely on the memories and stories of others – and photos such as this.