February 18, 2016

When We Were Young
photo by Betty Duff Lewis
Lyndon, Kansas
circa 1963

My Aunt Betty died yesterday morning. I posted this photo she took of me many years ago because she was an artist in her own right and had an interest in photography and this was the only thing I could put my hands on that she had produced.

I grew up around Betty’s artwork, from her teenage drawings of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley in her bedroom at home to the various paintings hanging around my parents’ and grandparents’ homes as well as her own home over the years..

She was an active photographer in her college days (when she took the above photo of me) and has always had an interest in my work. She had a degree in art and taught art for several years, so was way more knowledgeable about the basics of composition etc. than I am. I could tell when a photo of mine seemed to work; she could tell me why it worked.  I will miss our email exchanges that started with her response to a particular POTD but ended up being newsy accounts of family and other things.

I will remember her happy chuckle, always cheerful and smiling as in this photo of the two of us from a few years ago taken by my cousin Connie. (Note the painting by Betty in the background, and the birthday cake she made for me because I was smart enough to visit on my birthday.)