Valentine’s Day is fast approaching and in the spirit of love I thought I’d share a couple of my favourite photos of my Grandma and Grandpa. They first met in Merredin in the late 1930s and eventually became sweethearts. On 5 May 1944, amidst the turbulence of WWII, they were married in St George’s Cathedral. To me, they are the epitome of enduring love. They went through many joyful times but also had their fair share of difficulties. Through thick and thin they stayed together, slowly making their way to 50 years of marriage and even more inspiring, 60 years of marriage.
The photos below were taken in the 1940s and may have been arranged in order to commemorate their respective enlistments into the Royal Australian Air Force. Both photos are extremely similar with one of the main differences being their facial expressions.
I love them both equally. The first shows a calm seriousness attributed to the moment they were hoping to catch as a memento for the future while the second shows my Grandparents in a way that I remember them best. I don’t know the back story but the photo itself speaks volumes. In this one moment captured on film you can see the love emanating from my Grandma’s eyes. It truly is one of those rare photographs which just happens to capture the spirit of two people.
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- Learning From the Past (elizabethmak.wordpress.com)
Finding Family 