The Tradition of Story-telling

The above photo was taken in my great-grandmother's kitchen, probably in the spring of 1946. The group sitting around the table was typical every time members of the family got together. In the photo, my mother, Chris, is on the far right side of the table, peeking out from behind her Aunt Anne, and I am beside her, largely hidden. My Aunt Kay is on the far left with Jonann (Johnny) standing in front of her. Carmella Critelli is at the back of the table with her two sons Johnny and Joe, on either side of her. Aunt Ann Matkovich Critelli would have her back to the camera if she hadn't turned around when asked. Her son, Mike, is on her left. I'll explain why my mother's aunt is so young in another post.

It seemed like someone in my Mom's family always had a camera. I have very few old pictures of my dad's side of the family.

The young mothers would sit around the table talking, laughing, reminiscing with a little gossip thrown in for good measure. I heard so many of their childhood stories just by doing what I'm doing in this picture - hanging out. If I was quiet, sometimes sitting under the table, I didn't get chased away to "go play with the other kids." I hope I can put many of those stories in this blog. But today I mostly wanted to upload this photo. The stories appearing here will not be in any particular order - we'll try to indicate a time frame as we begin. This won't be a perfect process but it is the only way I can think of to be sure these stories do not die with me.