When my uncle died in September 1990, family and friends gathered for the funeral. My uncle–the oldest of seven children–was more like a grandfather to many of us, as our grandfather on that side of the family had died before I–or any of my cousins–had been born.
He was a bachelor who had lived in our family’s “homeplace” all of his life, and some of our best memories were of the times when we’d gather on the front porch late at night to listen to the ghost stories that he would tell. He was a wonderful storyteller, and I still smile when I think of how he could make me shiver with his tales….
We knew, with our uncle’s death, that a way of life would be coming to an end, and to mark his passing–as well as to preserve every possible memory–we took pictures. Lots of pictures. Pictures of our homeplace, pictures at the funeral, and pictures as we gathered after the funeral.
When we got our pictures back, they were all very special to us, but one of my cousins had one that was …different….
It was in the middle of the roll of film (cell phone cameras weren’t a thing then!), and none of the other pictures on the roll showed anything unusual.
To this day we can’t explain or prove what we’re seeing in this picture (shown in color and in black & white), but we think we know….
© SKB 2000, 2023