Wedding Photo

Flipping through my parents' wedding pictures, my eyes were awash in bellbottoms and double-exposures. Then I came across this:

It's my dad and my grandpa sharing a moment of congratulations. For some reason, it didn't register in my mind as belonging to the rest of the corny, posed photos in the album. Maybe it had to do with the general vibe I got from the other photos that had my grandpa in them. I just felt like I could tell that he was grinning on the inside. For the short time that I knew him, I never saw my grandpa smile or laugh. I guess the general impression I got was that this was a man who smiled only when he really meant it.

I suppose that one of the big things that drew me into this picture was the total father-son moment that it captured. Just going by the facial expressions, they could have read (from left to right) as "did you see me make the winning touchdown?" and "good catch." But instead, they're wearing tuxedos (velvet has no place in a bowtie).

Maybe it was just mindblowing for me to think that my dad might once have basked in the approval of his dad, that he too felt the warm glow of paternal love.

Maybe it was how stark the contrast was between these two generations of men, whiskey in one hand, champagne (that would remain untouched) in the other.

Or maybe it was just the ruffles.