Nostalgia. Slides. Family.

There are several very vivid memories that I have from my childhood.  You know, things like crashing my bike into a metal trashcan, riding the Hangman at Opryland, boot scootin' with my Daddy and Papaw, etc.. One other thing I remember is that every time my mother's family got together, my grandfather would go through reels and reels of slides. These were family photos captured mostly by him. Sitting through slides was pure torture back then, but now I long for those days. Each slide had a different story, and there was always laughter a'plenty. I didn't develop an interest in photography until after he passed away, but Granddaddy had a huge hand in my love for the camera.

I could go on an on about Grandmama and Granddaddy, but I'm sure you'd fall asleep at your computer before getting past the first couple of paragraphs. I'll just leave you with some of the slides (thanks to my uncle, who converted them to digital)

Granddaddy was in the Navy, and the middle photograph is of him in Japan. I think the first on was taken in Hawaii. And of course I have to put the picture of him with his kick-butt Impala!

Precious little family. My mom and I look scary alike if you compare pictures from when we were kids. Also, Granddaddy was a fireman...wasn't he awesome?! That house in the first picture was were I spent a lot of my days as a kid. They eventually had to move because the neighborhood was getting rough. I don't know very many people that enjoy drive-by shootings in their front yard.

This is one of my favorite photographs EVER. I'm planning on getting this printed if I can get a hold of the original slide. That's Grandmama proving she can still ride a bike (and mom is the one in the black)

Mom was mad about something...but Uncle rich looks pretty giddy. Grandmama's outfit in the second one is so wonderful. She was a homemaker, so she didn't have fancy clothes, but her casual outfits were super cute.

As you can see, my family believed in hand-me-downs

Mom and her bro. There's one somewhere from Christmas where they each got musical instruments. They are posed like they're playing but they're facing straight ahead, just staring. There's just something about it that is so perfect.

That is just a mere fraction of the number of slides we used to go through...but I wouldn't trade those slide shows for anything in the world.

What are some family traditions that YOU remember from your childhood?