Photo Archives - or I hope I can catch up on some sleep while on this vacation

These old photos are of my cousin, Maya. What I find hysterical about these photos, besides the hairdos and such, is that she is reclining in everyone. Oh, yes, there were other photos of her, but these were so much more fun!

This photo was around 1995, although I'm never sure about that date in the bottom corner. It had to be Christmas time as this is when Maya and her mother would visit us.

This is a very typical Maya and mother picture. Sometimes the roles would be reversed and Maya would be the one sitting up. They have a very special bond, and it was always easy to see that when they cuddled on the couch.




This picture was the year that Maya got her hair permed while visiting us at Christmas. It turned out all curly and made her look so grown-up. She did it before her mother arrived (I think), and I'm not sure that her mother approved.

She is in one of my brother's old beds (bunk beds) that were moved into the guest room. It was always cold down there, but a nice place to escape when the family became too much.

We are a family of readers (at least on the female side) and thus a lot of photos are of us reading. Or working a puzzle.

This picture cracks me up every time I look at it. I'm not sure if she is pretending to be asleep for my taking of the picture, or if she is pretending this so she doesn't get roped into ironing.

This is 1989, according to my father's markings on Maya's foot. Why he didn't write her name on the picture is a mystery, but when he did put her name it was usually misspelled as Mia.





This picture is the same year as the perm, I believe. It is different from above because the couch is where the chairs used to be. I think I took this picture (and the second one) because my father's markings are missing. It took me a while before I realized he was right on keeping track of people and dates on pictures.

Maya was probably watching television, and I took the picture because once again she was lying down!




Back upstairs and this time the couch is on the opposite wall in our living room, thus a different date than the other couch mother/daughter picture.

Despite all the loping around, Maya did up and off the couch to go Christmas shopping, help with the food preparation, complete a puzzle, or help make a snowman. It was because of all that activity that she had to take a rest!




The one photo I tried to find and didn't succeed in doing so is one of the first photos of her trip to Indiana. In the picture, she is, of course, lying down on the floor, her head in my lap sleeping. I actually remember that moment. My cousin lived a very different life than my own and visiting us was way out of her norm, especially since she didn't really know us well.

I remember trying hard to get her to interact with me, but she was very shy and afraid (and knowing us I did understand). When she finally got down on the floor with me and lay her head in my lap I remember feeling a sense of accomplishment, as if I had won some hard-fought battle. I also remember feeling joy in my heart that my cousin liked me, that she trusted me enough to fall asleep in my arms. I hoped this was just the beginning.....and it was.