On The Left: My grandpa, Leon Kitko (b. 20 Mar 1933, PA, died 18 Jun 2011, Clearfield, PA), holding a rabbit. It’s a rare photo of him with a beard – he kept his face clean shaven nearly all of his life except for a brief period around 1954 where he shows up in a few photos with a beard. A rabbit really isn’t an unusual pet, but among the many photos of their pets, this is the only one that isn’t a cat or dog! I never heard stories about a rabbit from grandpa, but it’s clear he had one at some point!
On The Right: My grandma (step-grandma.. Leon’s second wife, not my biological grandmother, but I always knew her as grandma), Romayne (Greenaway) Kitko (b. 30 May 1936, PA, d. 7 Jan 2013, Clearfield, PA). She was quite the musician her whole life from piano to organ and even the accordion! This is a scan from a negative, so I don’t know when exactly this was taken, but I’d assume sometime in the 1950s. She’s sitting at the back of her childhood home at the well, perfectly posed and coiffed, playing on the accordian.
Short and sweet this week! It was nice to be able to include different photos from this set of grandparents who have both passed away. Having memories like this and photos from their younger years really helps keep the memory alive and I’m so glad I have a chance to share them with Sepia Saturday as well!
I wonder if that is an unusual accordion. The keyboard looks short. Very clever to work both grandparents into the post, thereby answering the prompt photo on two counts.
What a perfect pairing & well-keeping with the prompt! It is nice to have pictures of grandparents in their younger years. Gives so much more personality to the people you only knew in your own early years as so much older.
What interesting photographs. I would not have known what your step grandma was sitting in front of if you hadn’t told us it was a well.
Your gran looks very relaxed and at home with the piano accordion.
Those are good photos for this week’s theme.
It’s always nice to spend time remembering the grandparents.
You do both your grandparents justice in these photos. My mum played the accordion too and it’s not an instrument that seems to feature in family albums much.
I have no photos of my grandparents and don’t remember ever having seen one. We have just one of my wife’s but not a pet in sight.