Polaroids

I can't believe that Polaroids are coming back! I think I took the last of the cameras to Goodwill just last year! Yikes. Not a problem, though. There's an app for that. Pretty darn cool, eh? 

Self Portrait Puerto Rico 1978

While this one? It's an original. This is one of my all-time favorite original Polaroids. The oldest one I was looking for was of me at my Aunt Ollie's, wrapped in a fur rug when I was about four years old. I can see it; I just can't find it. The following aren't quite as old, but they are pretty darn old, kids!

This is probably about 1975 at work. I would have to walk over to the bank every Friday and get cash for payroll. I was the banker! No, really. My father paid our employees CASH every Friday! Nice!

This is at the Grant Memorial at the Capitol where our photographs were taken. After I finally got my diver's license, I'd have a little freedom to drive up to the Capitol, pick up the film and then take it back to the shop to develop and print. I must be killing time here waiting on a shot. This looks like a "dad" pose to me! Too funny. Note the Dr. Shoals!!! brahahahahah I had just got my first pair of glasses--hippyish, of course, no frames. My dad said they looked like granny glasses. :( 1978

Here I am at the shop. Looks like I was cutting a small mat for a print. Where's the print?? Perhaps it's a practice piece for my photography class. 1979

 

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

1977

El Yunque National Rainforest, Puerto Rico. 1978

Posing perty in the L.A. hills. HA! 1982

     Skiing in the Poconos. 1983

Twenty-fourth birthday with my mom's new English Bulldog, Brittany--better known as "The Brit." I miss her handwriting.

The Brit has grown in a year! Twenty-fifth birthday.

1985

Hey Kell!

This is the first time my brother Johnny met the hub-to-be. 1986 

This could be the first time my father met the hub-to-be in my first apartment! New furniture had just arrived--finally something to sit on!! Oh, and by the way, I literally JUST got rid of the set this year. It held up pretty well until the last couple of years! Here we are with my dad. 

Freshly back from our honeymoon at one of my oldest friends' wedding, Larry. 1987

I didn't like the size of this Polaroid film. I got it right before the Kid was born. He wasn't even a month old here! Little Boo. And the Teenager! Ahmazing! This was a test shot for a Christmas card with the kids. 1993.

Ok, now that this has taken WAY too LONG to write, I have to get back to my photo sorting! Geesh. I am out of practice here!           

Labels: Brother John, California, Dad, Dogs, Family, Hub, Kid, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Teenager

Forever With Us

Happy birthday to my brother, John. He would have been 58.

Miss ya, my bruva.

Labels: Brother John

Happy Father's Day

This is my favorite picture of all of us. We were in New York City for the 1964 World's Fair. 

I was three, Jim was five and Johnny was seven.

Dad was 50.

Labels:  Dad, Brother John, Brother Jim, NYC

Music in the Ol' Bones

 

Here you see why my brothers and I are so enthralled with music and photography. My father, Bill Ivey (above right) was a professional photographer who took photographs of country stars as a hobby. Here, one of my favorite photos of him, he's with Freddy Fender. (Y'all see what happens when I start looking for something -- like my resume!? I come up with something all together different.)

Stuffed in a drawer (and other places), I found a box of my father's photos that mom had saved.  As you know, one thing leads to another and long story short--over the years, I've had several requests to put together a book of my father's photos. Well, now that I have them all out (and my brother Jim has all of the negatives), what better time than now? This is one of my favorites of mom with one her faves,  Faron Young.

A lot of my parents' love of country music stems from a very dear friend, Tom 'Cat' Reeder, a local DJ and MC back in DC. During the 60s, 70s, 80s and beyond, they spent most weekends together at various country shows; my father the unofficial photographer and bartender. (He would keep a full "bar" in his trunk; and once he pulled up, the trunk would open and the party would begin!) There is a story where George Jones got so drunk before going on stage, they wouldn't allow him to do the show! Oooopsy. Oh well. Don't know if it's true or not, may have to check into that story! Anyhoo, my dad was always passing out photos at every show and never asked for a penny for any of them. I can only imagine how many hours he spent in that dark room. Yea, this is way-back-when--before digital cameras. But I know it brought him so much joy. It was his passion. Tom 'Cat' above with Ray Price.

Mixed in with the old photos, I found some programs that mom had also saved from the day. I had no idea that my father's photos were ever used professionally. I'm happy he did get credit, at least. Oy, teenagers don't pay any mind, do they. I never did, anyway. Couldn't care less. Shame.

His photos were used throughout these programs over the years, like the one of Tom and Jerry Lee Lewis to the right (not the Harrison/Dylan/Russell photo, unfortunately!). Wow, what memories these Top Ten lists brought back! Yup, that's about what I was listening to.

I was never allowed to stay at home with my teenager brothers, Lord forbid. So, yes, I spent many a weekend sitting in the back of my daddy's Cadillac listening to Three Dog Night, Alice Cooper, and the Top Ten. I don't know how I never wore the battery down, I often think about that. I'm talking HOURS with the radio on, probably A/C too!  Country music was not cool in any way or form according to me. Well, I guess I did come out of the car every once in a while because that's me with Faron Young (obviously before I became a moody teenage girl). One of my fondest memories around this time is dancing with my dad at some honky tonk; and Johnny Cash and June Carter came on (not live, mind you) singing "Jackson." Up until a couple of years ago, I thought the words were "We got married in a beaver" which I thought was a euphemism for a VW Beetle! HA! Lawds, help me.

Well, you know of course I did come out for the Killer! Always did like a bad ass! (Of course, I had to hide the photo of ME and Jerry Lee somewhere SAFE--which means I cannot find it to kill me. It's probably with my resume!)

I wonder if mom or I took this photo as there is dad on the right. He must have liked Jerry Lee also. He hardly ever got in front of the lens.

Love, love love! Mom with Hank Williams, Jr.. Just look at that baby face! Wow. And mom's beautiful smile. Aw. I'll never forget when Hank had his horrible accident and almost died. Tom got a phone call in the middle of MCing a show; and he left right then and was on the next plane out to be with him.  Now, that's friendship.

Here Tom is with another bad boy, Merle Haggard. Wonder why he's wearing sunglasses??? lol

Mom looking good with good-looking Conway Twitty.

Beautiful Loretta Lynn smiling for the camera. Talk about Angelina being skinny!

Tom with my brother Johnny and Grandpa Jones. Great pic of Johnny.

George Jones and Tammy Wynette. Check out the lamé outfit. Oooooohweeee. George and I go to the same optometrist! Next time I see him, I'll ask him if he remembers the "trunk incident!" NOT!

Mom with Hank Snow. Wonder if that suit is in the Country Music Hall of Fame. What a beaut!

The sweet Mel Tillis.

And take a look at these youngins'--Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton. LOVE Porter's boots! Oww! Now those babies could crush a roach in the corner, as we used to say.

And, here's mom and Mac Wiseman yuking it up about something.

I can't begin to tell you what memories have been flooding my brain today as I've scanned all of these orginals. It's sad that so many of these folks are no longer with us, including my parents and brother Johnny. Tom 'Cat' has had some recent medical issues and it breaks my heart. He has brought so much joy to so many over the years and has always been a decent man.

I dedicate this post to him. 

Get well, Tom 'Cat'!

Labels: Music, Dad, Mom, Brother John, Friends

Thank You

Flowers for mom's birthday that arrived on Johnny's birthday. 

I love you, Aim.

Labels: Amy, Brother John, Mom, Flowers

A Missed Birthday

Johnny would have been 56 today.  Missing him dearly.

This was taken in the 60s, probably waiting for a protest to start here at the Washington Monument in DC. He was quite the hippie.  We used to pile into the wagon as a family and actually drive him into town for the war demonstrations.  His hair was considered LONG here!

Miss you Johnny!

Merry Christmas 2010

Another Christmas come and gone.  As much joy as Christmas brings, I felt none of it.  It's wonderful having the teenager home for the Holidays, but I'm numb.  Not numb, broken.  When a parent passes after a long and wonderful life, you can continue on.  After losing my brother Johnny, my heart is broken.  A part of me is missing.  I have never felt so empty with sadness.

Brother John

Sorry for the long absence, but my brother Johnny has been very ill and is losing his battle with pneumonia.  I am in Virginia staying with him in the hospital.  He has been in good spirits even though he knows his time on this earth is drawing to a close.

Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he moves on to his next journey.

xo ro

Post Heading Home

Rewind: I left Nashville on November 11 and drove to Knoxville where I picked the teenager up at UT. We were in the thick of Tropical Storm Ida who decided to take the exact same route as us, in fact. Fun. And I was feeling like hell, to boot. My back was still killing me and nothing was helping.

At any rate, we drove for 12 hours, in the wind and rain and made it as far as Manassas in Virgina. It is only about 40 miles outside DC, but I was getting pretty darn tired about midnight so we pulled into the local Hampton Inn for the night. When we got up the next morning, we hit the Galleria at Tyson's Corner. I got the teenager a cap since it was a tad chillier than it was in TN. It was quite hilarious, like we were two country bumpkins in the big city. We were ooohing and awing over all the high-end stores and even the cars in the middle of the mall, the likes of Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini. Sign me up boys!

I was feeling so bad by this time, we stopped at the Cheesecake Factory in the mall and sat down and ate. Ooooof. I just felt bad. Even the onion rings didn't make me feel better. You know that's bad!

I had a salad and the teenager had a kobe beef burger. Yum.

After we finished, we got a call from my brother and we headed towards Baltimore. He was already cookin'! A glass or two (perhaps three) of sangria made me feel a little better and I jumped right on in too. I think we hit the beds kinda early because we knew we would be cooking all day on Friday, the 13th.

Birthday morning, Jim and his wife had a teachers' conference in the a.m. so they were gone by the time I got up. Their nanny was there, thank goodness, because by this time, I was hurting. I could literally feel my organs--not good. I asked her where the local walk-in clinic was and made my way there lickety split. I was feeling so bad, me--mz. photographer--didn't even take one photo. What great shots I could have got. Oh well. Anyway, I really didn't have to wait long and was in and out in probably three hours. Bladder infection. Oh my. I've never had one. And no, it did not hurt when I peed. lol The doc put me on heavy duty antibiotics and I was on my merry little way. The check in guy did wish me a happy birthday. Awwww. I made it back and Jim had already started cooking again. And these gorgeous flowers were waiting for me. I had never seen such a beautiful spray of roses before. All done up fancy.

And even prettier in a vase.

Some of them had a green tint to them with just a speck of red. They were gorgeous. Awwww.

I started my red beans and Jim continued his beef brisket and pork bbq.

We made many bottles of Mangria Monkey Punch (sangria) and stored it in the cold garage.

I had ordered large Calla lilies for the celebration and they arrived. Jim scrambled for a holder for them and came up with a gorgeous silver champagne bucket (I think). We put them in his great room. They were gorgeous.

Mom's red flora was placed in the center of the parlour. It was absolutely perfect.

A photo from her childhood

and one from this summer. Precious.

We got it all done for Saturday's celebration. Jim and I made pork bbq, beef brisket, mom's fried chicken (8 pounds of wings which went in a snap and everyone said it was JUST like hers! Yay, success!!!) red beans and rice, cornbread, and he had a friend make baked ziti, cole slaw, potato salad, pasta salad, fruit salad, etc. I think we had it all covered. In addition to Jim's sangria, we also made batches of mom's sweet tea. I can honestly say that no one went home hungry!

Oh my, we had quite a little reunion from junior high school! Mom worked in the kitchen and these sweet friends came out to help celebrate mom's life. It was so wonderful.

Me and my two brothers, Jim and John. Still a crude try at changing the background. Perhaps in the New Year, I should invest in a Photoshop class.

Here we are taking a breather after everyone left. It was a wonderful turnout for a wonderful lady. We couldn't have asked for anything better.

And then I asked my brother for a belated birthday gift--a chocolate malt. Which he did. It tasted just like I remember when we were little and he would make them for me.

It was an absolutely perfect ending to a perfect day.

xo ro