Remarkable Resemblance

My dad was raised in the downtown area of Alexandria (which is now the ghetto). He lived in a small house on a 9 hole golf course, right by the zoo. The home was later sold to the city and used as the Zoo offices. I remember driving by that house each time my Nanny brought us to the zoo. It still stands, painted light green, kind of cool to see. I would say it is about 900 sq. feet. Not exactly comfortable for a family of 4, but I suppose the times were so different in those days. My Paw Paw was a Mercantile Salesmen. He sold watches, shoes and costume jewelry out of his car....My Dad said that he was really good at it.

I also got to see the house where my Nanny was raised. A beautiful plantation home, complete with a porch and white pillars. The home is now a historical monument.

My Nanny's Mom died during child birth, so Nanny's twin sister adopted my Nanny and raised her. Nanny's father got remarried and had 5 children with another woman. Back in those times, men didn't do any raising of any children, period. Fortunately, Nanny was able to be raised by someone who was family, and being a twin, I am certain that she offered a lot of the same characteristics of Nanny's birth Mom.
I believe I resemble my great grandmother....
I own the ONLY photograph of her, from the 1800's. This picture is so remarkable to me, it was created with chalks. The details are fascinating. I am constantly amazed at how life like this portrait is over 100 years later. What an artist that person was... Look at how dimensional her necklace is and how her eyes sparkle. Even the ornamental piece in her hair, wow!
A year before my Nanny passed away, I asked her for this photograph, and a picture of the day she and Paw Paw were married, along with a couple of pictures of my Dad and my Uncle. At the estate sale of my grandparents home, all photographs were demolished. My Uncle misunderstood the person in charge of the sale and said he could do whatever he wanted with the pictures. My Uncle thought he meant the paintings she had on her walls.....not 30+ years of photographs and reels of movie film that my Nanny had either taken herself or had been given. I feel so blessed to have gotten the pictures I have.