"Viola and Her Doll Family"

Viola and Her Doll Family

Go, songs, for ended is our brief, sweet play;
Go, children of swift joy and tardy sorrow:
And some are sung, and that was yesterday,
And some unsung, and that may be to-morrow.

~Francis Thompson
from his poem, "Envoy"

My Grandmother snapped this picture of her eldest daughter, my Mom, one fine Spring day in the mid-1920s. She titled it, "Viola and Her Doll Family." Grandma's remembrance of the incident always made her smile. "Viola hated that roly-poly clown," she'd say gently.

Then we'd all laugh. Sometimes Mom would blush, other times she'd fume and sputter, "Well, I did! I just HATED that ugly thing!" And we'd all laugh louder. Kids were funny, in whatever era they lived. I wish I'd known her when she was this age, with her little flapper bobbed hair, button-up boots and favorite armless doll. Grandma said she had been a good little girl and never gave them any trouble.

How I wish they were both here! What fun we'd have this Mother's Day!

But they're both just memories now.

Thank you Grandma for the sweet photo.

For more information: Francis Thompson's "Envoy", more online books