Prom, 1969
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First a sad tale. This evening, needing a little retail therapy, I headed to a bookstore that’s about a ten minute walk from my apartment, and which sells vintage photos. I selected ten, and, not wanting to pay the surcharge, declined a bag. As I stepped outside, I was caught in a sudden downpour without an umbrella. I shoved the photos in my coat pocket and headed home. Sure enough, when I got home, I found that six of the ten photos had fallen out of my pocket along the way. I retraced my steps along the whole route, but only found one. It was wet, but still in good shape. The photos were cheap, and the five I ultimately lost didn’t cost more than about twenty dollars total. Not a huge loss financially. But I had spent time going through the bins of photos, selecting images that I wanted to spend time with and care for. They’re just cheap little photos that somebody else had discarded, yet I felt that I had failed in my duty as a caretaker for those artifacts.
Anyway, as you may have guessed, this is the photo I found again. It’s a Polaroid, dated May 18, 1969. It says “Prom”, and the people are identified, from left to right, as Doug, Geraldine, Bea, and Bobby. It’s an image of joy, so I’m glad I have it again.
Pics of Then 
That’s a sad tale, indeed. Maybe someone found the other photos and will take care of them. This one is cute!
Let’s hope so. Or I guess there’s a chance I dropped them before I even left the bookstore, so maybe they’ve been put back in the bin. I’ve been trying to remember which are the five that are lost. There was a family posing on a beach, a group lounging on a dock, a soldier in the sun, and a group of old ladies with weird matching hats and poses. But I can’t remember the fifth one, so it’s truly lost to me.
Hang on, I remember the fifth one now. It was four people, probably in the 1910s or earlier, sitting in stiff-backed chairs in a back yard, reading books and newspapers, but all clustered together in the one little area of shade. They were all smiling for the camera.
I hope you dropped them at the bookstore, however unlikely that may seem!
Sorry you lost those photos. I have difficulty discarding ANY photograph so understand your feelings. It does jerk my chain a bit to realize that my prom pictures are ten years older than this one and so can be considered “vintage”.
LOL, sorry, I understand. I’m right behind you.