The Anatomy of a Photograph… My Back Story in Pictures

My Back Story

My Back Story: If a picture’s worth a 1,000 words – I owe you a couple funny words & an 8×10 Glossy!

I believe there’s a story behind every picture, don’t you?  I figure old snapshots uncover secrets & laughs depending on what you can or want to remember!

Today, I got a moment of clarity & then a flash back.  It happened when I read my last article again, “And the Angels Sing”…Uncle Ben, Sinatra & The Kings of Swing!  Right here on the Humor Times website.

If you crop your pics like I did – you know there’s a whole other side of the story I conveniently left out!  haha  So, now’s the time for amends!

We can all agree that family yarns (or re-telling of stories) are  sometimes downplayed as we innocently pick & choose what we want to share.  Today, at my age – what the heck, I’m all in!  haha

So yes, I remember exactly where we took this photo & how much one innocent 13 year old girl, who just started to love life, grew up on this day while eating a chopped liver sandwich!

Just for clarification, my father was the 9th of 10 children – 6 boys & 4 girls & half of them lived in the D.C. area like us.  On this day, their spouses & children had a very rare luncheon in a restaurant in a private party room.  It was so eventful, we never had another! haha

As the photo shows, a few of us stopped for a photo outside the restaurant at 6 PM taking a much needed breath of fresh air from all that just transpired before we drove home. 

‘The Casualty List’ started with one straight-laced wife who got happily plastered before the soup course! 

One wife had a Diabetic Medical episode & a fervent call for a shot of orange juice (she was fine after, okay)

And, before I could yell, ‘Nyet’, my dear sweet mother was doing ‘The Kazotsky‘ – the Russian Cossack Dance!

Russian dance

What a shocker!  I never even saw her do ‘The Fox Trot’! 

All my growing up years she complained she could hardly walk – she had varicose veins!  haha

(There might have been a hopped up partner in crime egging her on, but when you’re a kid in disbelief, you kind of miss the periphery & think she’s doing an embarrassing Solo Act!)

Don’t worry – most of the older partiers at this shindig are no longer with us, so yes, they can laugh now too!  As for the next generation – ‘Look at the shame I carried & see – now, I have to share it!

All in all, I turned out O.K.  Well, except my head goes over to one side!  haha

My Back Story

And, I know exactly where & when this photo was taken!  I’m at home in Maryland in 1987, taking a break from doing Stand-Up Comedy in San Francisco where I tried to give my inner childhood  demons a good laugh!

Marilyn Sands
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