megandy.com | Old Photos

A few years ago, I decided to give my mom a very special Christmas present. She had an old photograph of her father who owned a small grocery store in Chicago when she was a little girl.

He won some kind of contest and was chosen to be in an advertisement for Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. This was the only copy she had - it had been glued to a piece of cardboard, and as you can see, was pretty beat up.

So I spent about a month meticulously going over every square inch in Photoshop, retouching it until it was perfect. Then I had it printed out and gave it to her.

I think you'll agree I did a pretty good job.

It wasn't until after staring at his face for 20 hours that
I realized how much I look like him

Here are some other photos of my Grandfather's store...

That's him on the right holding my mom, and her mom right next to him.
That's my grandfather's brother Bart peeking out on the left, and their mother in the middle. My mom called her "Mutter" which is German for mother, even though she was her grandmother (my great-grandmother).

And one more photo from outside.

My Grandfather Frank died about 20 years before I was born, so I never
got to know him. But my mom says he was a really great dad.