In the early 70’s, when their marriage was still fresh and young, long before my sister or I came on the scene, my parents had brief (extremely brief) stint as models. They had a friend who was a photographer, and needed subjects for a series of pictures he was taking. He didn’t have any money, so they did it as a favor. They spent the day in the hills above San Francisco, dressed in their hippie best, my mom’s long brown hair drifting in the breeze.
These pictures became really popular. I have one hanging in my living room, my parents younger than I am now, laying together in a grassy field with their eyes closed. It was once the cover of “San Francisco Life.” Others were printed on greeting cards and wall plaques, available back in the day at your local Hallmark.
My grandma Bunny (dad’s mom) went to a party once at the house of a co-worker. When she went to use the bathroom, she glanced at the photo hanging over the toilet and was stunned to recognized her youngest son and his wife. Everyone at the party was called into the bathroom to check out my parents.
It’s definitely a unique footnote in the story of my family.