It occurred to me you might want to see the infamous second grade school photos, of which there are three:
EDWARDSVILLE, ILLINOIS: I started second grade in Illinois, after spending the summer with dear old dad. My sister had spent the school year with him before but this was my first. Previously, I had only spent summers with him, the new wife, and my half-sister. Then he up and died on us in the middle of the school year. How rude.
REEDLEY, CALIFORNIA: I do not think my mother knew it was picture day. Or maybe she was just too tired and harried to care. My sister and I returned home after dad died, only to find we were not, in fact, returning home. We got off the plane in California rather than the expected Canada and were stuck living with my grumpy grandmother while my mom simultaneously commuted an hour to work every day and tried to find us a place to live.
ATWATER, CALIFORNIA: First off, please ignore the ink all over the pic. I canna' get it off. Second, it just occurred to me I am the most well-groomed in the first pic, where my evil stepmother dressed me. Well, she only had one kid of her own. The parenting thing was probably still new and fun to her. Meanwhile, my mom was on kid number four, raising two still at home as a single mom because dad was a philandering cad. Poor thing. When this pic was taken, we were living with my auntie and uncle and their four girls in their tiny 1-bathroom house: three adults and six girl-childs with only one bathroom. Thank god it was only a short time before we moved into our own house across town.
Tags: second grade photos
