“The photo is of my mother, Irene, at age 16. It was a recent unexpected surprise from my sister. I had no idea that there was another photo of her left. My mother was the daughter of Polish immigrants & lived in the Mont Pleasant area in Schenectady, NY.
My grandmother could not afford to buy her new clothes, and everything she had came from rummage sales. My mother would carefully launder her meager wardrobe in the ringer washing machine every Saturday and then finish with a crisp press.
She always loved to starch & iron everything, from my student nurse uniforms to her lovely lace curtains. Whenever my mother would look at the photo that I already had from this sitting, she would fondly tell me about this floral skirt and the white linen blouse she had worn.
My mother recently passed at age 90, and what a wonderful surprise to finally see her wearing this outfit! Sadly, the photo had been quite damaged over her beautiful face. Your restoration brought her back to me, to help me cherish her memory.”