Today I received an email from the Bakersfield, CA visitors center. The email was a reply to a request I submitted to them several days ago concerning a picture I found of my father and four of his friends. Details are sketchy at best and the most credible information I have was from my mother and Uncle Peter. The picture was taken in 1958 by someone and somewhere in Bakersfield. I think, it was taken between the spring and fall of the same year and from what I am told, dad was there to "get away" and work construction with the housing boom going on at the time.
I think the biggest issue I have with the picture is not the actual picture... I never knew my dad lived in Bakersfield. That should not be a big deal, but it just makes me realize I was never too close with my father. Sure I loved him as a son should but this just reminds me of the relationship maybe he and I should have had.
It wasn't until later in life I realized how important his opinion mattered and how much it meant to me that I get his approval about ANYTHING. I wonder... would he be proud of me today if he was still alive? Certainly, I would not have the strained relationships with my family that I do, if he was still alive.
Here is the email reply I just sent to the Bakersfield, CA visitors contact:
Thank you so much for your reply. Sorry I did not include the picture in the
first message. I was using your website "contact
us" feature and did not see a way to attach a picture. All I know about the picture is it was taken
in 1958, presumably starting in the spring until the fall. It is rumored that my father (second in from
the left) was in his early 20's and needed to "get away". At the time, there was a building boom in
your city and my father was hoping to make some money with construction. Or at least that is my summation based on
what my mom and Uncle told me. Obviously,
things didn't work out, so he returned to Hyde Park, MA; married my mother and
moved to VA. I knew nothing about my
father's trip to CA until about a year ago.
My father died several years ago and I never really knew him all that
well... he traveled a lot during my most impressionable years and he and I
never grew very close. That is, until a
couple of years before he died...nothing regrettable, it is what it is.
Sorry for the short history but, this picture is
important to me and I am really hoping I can add a place to the picture.
Thank you again for the reply and I hope you or someone
else can tell me a little bit about the picture.
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