Monday, October 09, 2006

THE CHESS GAME … circa 1972


A few years after my husband died in 1990 I was looking through some old photographs. I came across a wonderful one of Dick and one of our sons playing chess. It really touched me because it was so reminiscent of how they used to spend hours at the chess board. Dick had been teaching all the children to play since they were toddlers.

The only problem was that it was a Polaroid shot and was almost 20 years old. As so often happened with film of that era it had faded so that I could barely make out the expression on Dick’s face. I mentioned this to Mark (the son in the picture) and he agreed that it was a shame to lose that memory.

Then Mark did a wonderful thing. Unbeknownst to me he “stole” the photo when I wasn’t looking. He is an architect and has a very good eye for design so it wasn’t difficult for him to produce this wonderfully stylized version of that photo. He captured the moment exactly as it had been in the original.

This was his Christmas gift to me that year and I was thrilled. I had copies made and, in turn, gave them as gifts to all of my family members.

And the games continue today. Mark is a rated chess player and competes whenever he can get the time. He and his siblings learned a lot from their dad...not the least of these being the tenacity and patience to play a good game of chess.

10 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a beautiful story on so many levels! The photo is quite pleasing in and of itself. The shared gaze is powerful.

7:34 AM  
Blogger Anvilcloud said...

Maybe I should get back to chess too. I played quite a bit at one point in time.

9:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A beautiful creation as well as a wonderful memory. Good post, Ginnie!

7:39 PM  
Blogger Chancy said...

What a grand idea to take the faded photo and recreate it as a tribute to his Dad and the hours they spent playing chess together.

I love it and the black and white is so effective in capturing the mood of the chess game and the players.

8:50 PM  
Blogger Rach said...

Hi Ginnie.
What a lovely gift - your son obviously knew how much it would mean. He must be a talented man indeed. Used to be a bit of a chess player myself but forgotten all the moves now!
Take care
Rach

http://www.firstmemories.blogspot.com

8:21 AM  
Blogger Truth said...

What a priceless gift! I love it.

5:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

And now it's even better and memorialized. It's excellent.

6:54 PM  
Blogger Mortart said...

Ginnie: This is a lovely piece. My son and 3 grandsons all play chess. But I've never learned to play chess or even any card games. Too little patience and not enough time.
Another subject: Thanks for the reference to the Josh Max blog and for your recommendation to him about my blog.

6:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a poignant photo. One of those times where the picture says it all. And what great memories your son has of those chess games. My husband also taught our youngest son to play chess and he in turn is now teaching his children.

5:12 PM  
Blogger Suzie Q said...

Hi Ginnie, I'm having a Sunday afternoon browse through blogland and I was drawn to yours as my maternal grandmother was known as Ginny, so I already have a soft-spot for you! :)
I love this post - what your son did with the photo is just beautiful, as is your lovely description of the events leading up to the creation of it. Beautiful memories that live on.. thank you for making my Sunday sparkle!

My best to you & yours,
Suzie x

7:17 AM  

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