This photo is of my mother, father, and older sister. it was taken in the mid seventies, probably 1976. it was taken in tampa florida, in a lower middle class suburban neighborhood. both my mother and father are 25 in this picture, and my older sister is just a few months old, maybe 6 or 8 months. i love this picture a lot. i love my parents very much too. in this picture they look very casual and hopeful, my dad especially. my mother looks kind of tired. they were very poor when this was taken, which probably accounts for that tired look on my mom. a couple of years after this picture my mom became pregnant with me, which made money worries much more dire. my father's response to the problem was to join the military. at the time of this photo he was working construction. it is wonderful to think of the times when my father had long hair - and to think that feeding and clothing us was a good enough reason for him to give up a lot of his "hippie" ideas and join the army. and cut that hair. my mother still has this vaguely tired look today.

submitted by Elly Millican

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