Opelousas, Louisiana, April 17, 1960
I was just under two and a half years old for this Easter, the first one I can truly remember.
At the time, my mother, my brother Glenn, and I were living with Momo and Papa while my father was stationed in the Army in Giessen, Germany.
I cannot help but notice the wild wallpaper in the background of the photo from that day. It certainly made an impression. Momo probably did not choose it herself, as the house did not belong to her or Papa. It was owned by the family Papa worked for and farmed for, and the house came with the job.
That morning, Glenn and I received our Easter baskets, filled with candy. After that, my mother dressed us and carefully posed us for a photograph. I can still remember being propped into place. The photo was likely taken not only to preserve the moment, but also to send to my father overseas.
I do not recall whether we went to Easter Mass that day, but I do remember traveling to Eunice, about twenty miles from Opelousas, where we were living at the time. We went to visit my great-grandparents, Momo’s mother and father.
Their house sat higher off the ground than most, raised enough that there was space underneath. When we arrived, cousins and second cousins were already there, running and playing. I joined them beneath the house, where the shade and open space made it feel like its own little world.
Later, my mother had me pose again, this time on the front porch of my great-grandparents’ home. That porch would become the setting for many photographs over the years.
Several years ago, my husband Larry and I returned to that same house, which was unoccupied at the time. I stood in the exact same spot on the porch while he took a photograph, recreating that earlier moment. Seeing the house as an adult, it felt smaller, lower to the ground than I remembered. It made me wonder how we ever managed to play beneath it as children. Perhaps it had settled over time, or perhaps memory simply stretches things in ways reality does not.
I am grateful to still hold onto memories like this, especially from a time when I was so young.
