Three Generations joined by love, laughter and life.

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I sat and looked at this picture for a long time. 

I see that my Dad does not have his ever-present pipe in his mouth.  I am assuming that he has been told by the picture taker or cohort to get rid of it and I believe that it is probably in his left hand, hiding it slightly behind his leg.

They look like they all have the same nose, although my grandfather is turned a bit so I can’t definitively say so. This is something I hadn’t realized before studying this photo.

It is sunny for sure – look at the squints, surprised by that. My aunt, who I am 99% sure is taking the photo is usually a real stickler about the details.  Maybe they were in a rush.

Craig looks to be about 12.  If so, I am already born, and we live in Raynham although this was taken in West Newton. So, where are they off to?  I can’t tell by the clothes because everyone dressed like this back then – it didn’t happen just on Sunday.  Are we all there for a visit? 

I love the fact that both Craig’s and Dad’s pants are a wrinkled mess while Pop Pop’s appear to be pristinely pressed.

I wonder what the occasion is, what the banter was as the picture was being taken, and what they were all thinking.  This paragraph is where I wish I had spent more time with my Dad while he was still alive.  Getting to the stories behind all these pictures.   But since I didn’t, I can only guess and enjoy this picture of three of my favorite guys leaning into each other as they pose for this photo of three generations. 

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Oh, how I’d love to know the conversation between these three!

All important men in my life but each with a unique, strong personality. I can imagine they were sitting in the backyard of our grandparent’s house in West Newton, sipping on iced tea and joking around.

Pop-Pop telling a story, Dad jumping in with either additions or corrections to the story, and Craig eating up the dynamics of the family relationships. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Craig jumped in on the shenanigans with some comical input of his own.

Three generations of Cooley men – and I hope that all of us living out their legacies are making each of them proud.

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1. Are there any particular traits that have been passed down through the generations of your family?
2. Do you have one memory that stands out about a grandparent that you’ve never shared with anyone?
3. What is the one piece of advice from someone older in your family that you have heeded for all of your life?

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Dead Poets Society is an American film set in 1959 at a fictional elite conservative boarding school located in Vermont. The film stars Robin Williams as John Keating, an English teacher who inspires his students through his teaching of poetry.

In one scene, Keating talks to his students about the meaning of life. Keating quotes from Walt Whitman’s poem, Oh Me Oh Life, as follows:

“Oh life! of the questions of these recurring, Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish. What good amid these, O me, O life? Answer: That you are here—that life exists and identity, That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”

The poem explains that life is like a play, in which everyone who has ever lived gets to contribute a verse. Keating then asks the students: “What will your verse be?” The verse that you contribute to the play of life is your legacy.

Here’s to three very important contributors to our family legacy.

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“Dad, did you get a haircut?” “No, I got them all cut!”

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