Dad approves, too.

Suburban Chicago, November 1963. Dad takes his turn at modeling with the new living- and dining-room furniture. He's wearing one of those zippered cardigans* again.

*Zippered cardigans were fashionable in the 1960s. I don't recall Mom ever knitting a buttoned sweater for Dad, and Mr. Rodgers wore zip-front cardigans every day because his mother knitted them. I can't imagine a knitter would prefer sewing in a zipper over working buttonholes. It's much easier to knit a buttonhole than to sew in a separating zipper. Zippers had to be a male preference. Men in the 1960s must have found zippers more manly than buttons.

Dora's Wedding

My Mom's maternal aunt, Dora, remarried some years after her first husband died.

Here is a photo of the wedding reception:

Kaunas, Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, December 1970. Dora writes, "My husband doesn't look anything like himself in this photo. He's much more handsome in real life."

Physical Labor

Shortly before my stay in Venice ended, I met a gondoliero. The gondoliero had been navigating the Venetian lagoons for roughly fifty years. When I was readying to depart for the States, he treated me to a gratis ride up and down the city's canals. Because he was not "on duty," the gondoliero did not wear the classic uniform of a striped shirt and straw hat during that ride.

Venice, Italy, June 1984. This seventy-year old knew what he was doing.

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Venice, Italy, June 1984. The afternoon spent with the gondoliero was lovely.

Unknown Rank

A reader recently asked what rank my Dad had held in the Lithuanian scouts. I don't know. Although Dad spoke a lot about his fondness for scouting, and he occasionally mentioned some scouting outings, he did not talk about details.

Perhaps this photo of him in the scouting uniform will provide more information:

Schweinfurt, Germany, 1948. I love how my Dad, the fellow in the center, is the one scout who is wearing knee-high socks.

Dappled

Zarasai, Lithuania, 1939. My Dad, wearing his pocket watch, greets a traveling friend.