New: family photo fridays

SO! Over thanksgiving weekend I spent an afternoon scanning old photos into my computer. My mum has at least 15 large photo albums starting from the year I was born (I'm the oldest child, fyi). I've been meaning to scan some of them for the longest time. My parents were pretty good photographers in my opinion. They never had a point and shoot, only their Pentax SLR. So I think my childhood photos are not only enjoyable for their memories, but also for their aesthetics. Maybe it's just me who thinks that, who knows. Anyhoo... hear ye! hear ye! Henceforth, Fridays shall officially be known as Family Photo Fridays on this blog. And each Friday I shall post one (or some) old photos from bygone days. Who doesn't love a bit of nostalgia?

Anyways, this photo is of my grandpa and me in 1994. My grandpa, John McCulloch, was a doctor. He served in WWII as a doctor on a naval vessel. He married his best friend's sister, who was also the girl next door (Betty). They had 5 kids. They also had numerous dogs, all named Whitey (even when they were not white). And a budgie named Sputnik. My grandpa was born and raised in Toronto, near Yonge and Lawrence. He and Betty also raised their kids there, just around the corner from where the two of them grew up. As I said, he was a doctor, a family doctor who specialized in obs/gyn to be precise. In the 1960s and 70s he was one of only a few doctors willing to deliver babies at home. His patients loved him for this. My grandma, on the other hand, did not particularly like it because it meant he was never at home and she had to look after all 5 kids (and their numerous visiting friends) by herself.

My grandpa is great. When I was little he'd always recite poetry and shakespeare to us. He was also pretty good at chopping wood at the cottage. We had land near the cottage called "Grandpa's farm", where he'd grow flowers and vegetables in the summer. Their was also a swamp and a beaver pond there. This photo is of us exploring the beaver pond. I love how he's delicately holding my pinky.

Unfortunately my grandpa fell and broke his knee one year, then a few years later fell and broke his hip. These injuries affected him significantly, and a few years ago he started to lose his bearings a bit. He kept trying to leave the house on his own, and got confused about where he was frequently. My grandma just couldn't look after him safely on her own. So now he is at Sunnybrook Hospital's Veterans Residence. He's doing alright, especially since he is 93.