ADORABLE

Looking at that photograph of me as a toddler, with the doggie at my feet, I can't help but think, “Oh, so adorable.” The black and white candid in a simple Lucite frame appears prominently positioned on our dining room sidebar.

In the matte finish print, I’m sitting on a wooden bench outside the four-family house in Roselle, New Jersey, where my family rented an apartment on the second floor. The doggie appears eager for me to pet him as I, donned in my dress, sweater, ankle socks, and polished shoes, gaze down at him.

I know my shoes were polished because my mother told me that after the children went to sleep at night, she would stay up, polish our shoes, and wash the laces. The benches, which stood by the foundation of the house, were made by my father. There was nothing our parents didn’t take the time to do for us.

It’s magnificent to have that darling photograph of me taken in the days before instant gratification when you had to wait for the negative to be developed. My husband and I laughed when we recently went to a birthday celebration out of town, and I commented what a pleasure not needing to pack the camera, flashbulbs, and film. We had our iPhones and were ready to capture the memories.

In the days of yore, viewing the final print meant spending time in a dark room to develop the pictures or mailing the film to a company to do the work. Then, the wait was on for the film to dry or receive the prints back weeks later from the film processing plant.

Not only was there no instant gratification, but there were also no do-overs to take the perfect shot to capture the moment. The pictures often came out blurry, double-exposed, or blank. That is if they weren’t lost in the mail or at the processing plant.

When I was a youngster, my Uncle Jerome bought a “new toy.” That’s what the banter was about with his siblings when he showed his Polaroid camera with flashbulbs. The precursor to the smartphone cameras produced a far cry from the sophisticated tools today.

Getting back to the subject, having a picture of me with my first dog, King, is sweet. I can't say if I actually remember laying on him to nap or if I only know that fact from family lore, but I seem to recall the delight of resting my head on his side.

Feel free to post an adorable picture of you and your pet in the comments section below or send one to me by email at sharon.mark.cohen@gmail.com. We can turn it into a contest.

Sharon abt 1955 with King at 1102 Chandler Avenue, Roselle, New Jersey