Snapshots of a Generation: Baby Boomers
By: Donna Snow
The year was 1964 in the quaint Riverside community of Windsor Ontario. Many large families resided here so the neighbourhood was never quiet as the sound of kids enjoying baseball, high jumping over bamboo poles, hockey, fort building, tree climbing, and laughter filled the air.
Quietly standing on the perimeter of my childhood, ‘Rolleiflex’ camera in hand, stood a 70-year-old unassuming gentleman and neighbour called Mr. Wright who quietly documented our childhood through his twin lens camera. We had no idea how precious these black and white photos would become as our lives headed into adulthood. Mr. Wright often showed me how to develop the negatives in the darkroom and I watched with utter fascination at them coming to life!
Every Saturday from the ages of 9 to 17 the Wrights would have me over, having taken me in as their own after losing their only son to cancer. During my time there, Mrs. Wright would teach me to knit, crochet, and embroider while Mr. Wright shared his love of photography leafing through many magazines together. To this day I treasure more than ever the gift of their love, the weathered photos once placed in the attic and the countless indelible memories they’ve given me.
As time passed these priceless photos tucked away in an old microscope box followed my life. When I began teaching teenagers, I shared these images with all my kids so they could see how life and family was in an era they will never experience.
They were fascinated by the old Ford trucks, the streets full of neighbourhood kids, 12-year-old girls dressed in crinolines and mom’s old dresses. They sadly questioned the motives of an ‘old man’ lurking nearby camera in tow. The nostalgic longing for a time void of cell phones but rather one for large close families, and community drove me to want to share these moments captured by the love of ’that old’ gent. A love that gave this grateful little girl a most treasured gift from the heart. Mr. Wright passed away in 1978 and Mrs. Wright continued our friendship for more the 20 years in letters and phone calls until she passed away at 100 years old. Her ashes were flown back here from Alberta and this once little red-haired girl she so loved tucked a black and white photo of the three of us beside her silver urn.
