My First Photo

I bet you thought you were going to see the first photo I ever took. Sorry . . . but I don't know what that photo would be. Probably it was one I took with my father's old Brownie camera at summer camp. No, this is the first photo OF me. Lynn was looking through our old files searching for a negative for a client and ran across the envelope in my father's handwriting that said "Carol Hedspeth -- First Photo." I HAD to take a look. Of course, I have seen these photos before but it has been a long time and they seemed to mean a little bit more to me today. I take so many baby photos and know how special it is to do that. It struck me that my father was WAY ahead of the times. These days photographers sometimes go to the hospital for photos during labor and to the homes of new babies for complete sessions. Daddy was ahead of time snapping this photo on the day I was born in the old Roanoke Rapids Hospital. Of course, I LOVE the photo with my mother. I showed it to her and she was telling me how thrilled she was to have a little girl . And, as with lots of old photos, it's so interesting to see the little details that might have been overlooked in the past but are now so special. I see my mother's little suitcase on the table behind her and recognize it as the same one she still uses today when she takes a trip. In the photo with the nurse is a beautiful bouquet of roses in a "Proud Papa" vase that Mr. Sandlin -- a local florist in Roanoke Rapids -- sent to my parents. He and my father had worked together at so many weddings and I still have this vase today. And, it wouldn't be my father in those old photography days without having flashbulbs in his pockets, and he had obviously pulled a few out of his pocket and left them on the table. I would love to know who that nurse is holding me. Lynn and I have studied the photo a little this morning and commented on the fact that she is obviously young and unmarried -- no wedding ring but a class ring on her left hand. If any of my Roanoke Rapids friends can identify her, you'll win my heart. And possibly a great, big gift certificate.