When I was younger, we used to make fun of this picture - my mom included - because of the hair. This was a pretty popular hairstyle in the 1960s, but the thing is, that huge mass on the top of her head isn't even her own hair, as far as I know. It was never that long. I don't know if this is a real memory or something I made up in my head, but I used to think about the fact that this was called the "beehive" and I used to imagine bugs getting caught in your hair if it was shaped like this.

My mom looks so pretty in this photo. But what disturbs me, even more than the hairstyle, is the fact that she looks like she's wincing. Maybe it's an artifact of the long exposure, or of having to smile a lot for the photo session, but it remains unexplained.

Again I'm guessing, but I think she's in her twenties here. This is probably after she came to California, but before she got married to my father. I've never really been given a context for the photo - why it was taken or when. But it seems to kind of stand on its own, even among the other professional photos here.