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The Face in the Picture...

© Mary Pantazis

Family photos are fun to look at. We often pull out all of the old photograph albums and we look at the millions of pictures of the family. Our photo albums are very important. They bind us all together as a unit. They give us roots, they give us reminders of the past. When we look at the pictures we see faces that resemble our own faces looking back at us.

The pages in the photograph albums that belonged to my great grandmother are tattered and worn, some of the pictures are brittle and very old. They contain so much information about our family.

I sat looking at the album of my great grandmother the other day. I enjoy looking at her album most of all. I share her name, Mary Ellen. I am proud to be named for this woman. There is one particular picture in this album that gives me greater understanding about the life of this woman.

She is standing in the middle of the picture. A big woman, her face shows signs of age and exhaustion. Her husband stands in the background, looking like the brute we know he was. He is a family legend himself.

Standing next to this tired woman are two of her children from her first marriage, one of them is my grandmother, and then two other little children in front, the children of the brute. My great grandmother stands holding the hand of one of these small children, my great-great half aunt if you will. As my grandmother holds the hand of this little child, it is easy to see the protective stance she has taken toward this little child. It is also easy to see that this little child has Downe's Syndrome. She is a beautiful little girl, black hair like the rest of the family. She seems very sad in the picture.

My mother and I were looking at this picture. My mother told me about this child. Her name was Hope. Hope Lurvey would have been her full name. She had Downe's Syndrome and Mary Ellen my great grandmother refused to allow her to be taken from her. The Brute of course wanted her out of the picture as was often the way year's ago. My great grandmother kept this child and raised her with the family. She was at family gatherings and part of the family. Her face is a face in the history of our family photo album. Had my great grandmother not insisted that the child have her picture taken, my children would never have known of Hope's existence.

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