Don't Smile!

A couple of weeks ago, I had to go through quite a number of family photos (and I still have some 25 albums of my father's to haul out and scan, so they can be shared with the whole family). As I was going through several boxes of pictures, I came across several I'd like to share, starting with these, taken on a trip to England.

It was the spring of 1989, and a co-worker of mine at USAir had a daughter in the same graduating class as my daughter. Since we could all fly for free, Sylvia and I decided to take her Sondra and my Erin to London and Paris for a graduation present. (That was the first of several trips Sylvia and I have taken together, and we'e still friends! And still planning to go to Greece together, hopefully in the Spring.)



This first picture is of Erin. And that's Kensington Palace, where, at that time, Diana, the Princess of Wales, lived, with Prince Charles. There was no security in sight. Erin didn't really go over the fence. But she did walk through a gate right up to a side door and knocked, much to my horror. Thank heaven there was no response.

We took a side trip to Windsor Castle. The girls got tired of posing with the Royal Guards there. I mean, it's weird, standing next to them while they totally ignore you. You feel like an intruder or something when they don't even blink to acknowledge your presence. Sondra and Erin would only stand in their general vicinity, as in this picture.



When we wanted them to stand directly beside one of the guards, the girls rebelled. They flat out refused.

"Just go stand there for two seconds while I snap a picture," Sylvia insisted.

"MO-om!" wailed Sondra.

"Get up there!" Sylvia commanded.

They did, but Sondra groaned, "Why do mothers always have to be so embarrassing?"

"Quit worrying about that and just smile. He understands; he has a mother of his own!"

And that's how we got this priceless picture of the Royal Guardsman cracking up.