This is in the backyard with the garage door to the left. We're facing away from Mrs. Mac Intosh's house. Her house foundation was basically a mirror image of ours. That garage was built for perhaps a Model A - a modern automobile (especially a mid-1970's vintage) wouldn't come close to fitting.

In 2001, the man hugging me in this picture - my dad - was my best man.

I'm not entirely sure where this is, although if I had to hazard a guess it was in my parents' first house. The photo is dated "JUN 72" although I suspect that's when it was developed: I can't say for sure, but I don't remember snow on the ground in June...even in New England.

A small black and white of the happy couple on their wedding day.

This was cropped out of a picture taken on our family vacation to DisneyWorld. I'd never been on a plane before and it was actually the first and last time my family would take a trip to Florida.

Note that lid that boy has on. Is it? It is - a Red Sox cap. See the image a few slots down. Who could have imagined this young man would, a mere five years later, be the successful young man posing as High School Graduate?

Back when companies had "Christmas" parties, this is me at my dad's company Christmas party receiving a present from Santa. I remember those parties fondly. I don't remember the parties as such, only being there, sitting on Santa's lap, and especially the ride home. Nothing better than that.

One of the benefits of growing up in New England is building the obligatory snow man. Snow always seems to be so much more severe in my memory - it seems there was always a lot of it, every year. And how could you not want it to snow?

Well, I know the answer to that question now....

Jimmy Buffett at Fenway Park. We would later find out that any time Buffett plays Fenway, the Red Sox win the World Series. Conversely, any time Bruce Springsteen plays Fenway, the Yankees win the AL Pennant.

This is Michele and Nicole at Fenway, in front of a Fenway Park mural.

We actually took off for a weekend that month to try to recall the whole year...Or we went on a trip to catch Buffett, Baseball, and the Bengals. We saw Buffett at Riverbend on August 17, The Reds lose to the Pirates on the 18th, and The Bengals win the very first game ever at Paul Brown Stadium in a preseason win against Da Bears 24-20

The young lady graduates from High School. She does seem significantly more happy about it than does her future husband, below, on his graduation day. Perhaps he's just angry that she's a little more than a month older and she got sprung a year earlier.

The young man graduates from High School. So proud and happy is he as he poses for his parents camera in front of his sporty yellow car. Of particular note is the suction-cupped monkey in the back window - he's wearing a mortar board to match that of the young graduate.

The annual Halloween concert. Note Woody, Cavicch, and Dennis plying their artistic merits. Not shown is the actual hero and stage leader of the "band," yours truly.

The truly disturbing aspect of this is that not only was this fun, but as I recall it seemed like a pretty cool thing to be doing. (NOTE: resolution on scan is deliberately poor to protect the guilty.)

No way to really tell when this is, although I remember my dad built this nifty little go cart for my sister and me from wheels from this little 6-wheeled cart that met an untimely end. The cart was very cool, although the lack of any steering mechanism limited its usefulness. There was a neat trunk in the back - we were usually able to get another kid wedged in there. We could usually roll down the hill with 5 kids on that thing.

Behind us, my mother's 1964 Ford Falcon. What you don't see very clearly is "Nonie" Gatto's Pontiac, although you can in the original. She drove it approximately 12 miles every year.

Who would have thought this little angel would grow up to be the woman she is today?

Proud Daddy and new son. He's a big kid...I wonder what team he'll play for: Packers? Sox? Real Madrid?

While I'm working on this photo box project, it strikes me how much like he looks right now. Looking back at photos that are some 30+ years old, it could well be him in them.

Michele and her Papa at High School Graduation. He's clearly very proud of his granddaughter.

The girl having a grand time with Dad's cap. She just took it right off my head, put it on hers, and did this funny thing with it. She had just the best time.

Michele and Jay on a whilte water tour in Northern Maine near Millinocket. See our whitewater pictures for more.

This is the first picture ever taken of me, the day I was born. It's quite funny really, this could be something out of the 1940's - it's unretouched. I did crop it out from a larger print, but the original itself was only my head in a sea of white, presumably blankets.

This is the old neighborhood, must be mid-1970's. That's my mom's Falcon behind me, and it appears to have been after the car had been repainted. I recall someone had sideswiped the rear quarter panel - passenger side if I recall correctly - and had left a bright red streak on the car.

I notice the walkway had yet to be redone. The shade that's visible came from an old Elm Tree that was in the corner of the yard.

That was a nice neighborhood to be a kid.

Long about the time "Carrie" and "The Omen" were redefining horror films, this picture really talks about what Halloween should be about.

My sister and I are sitting on my Grandfather's chair on our trip to see my grandparents on Halloween. We would do this every year and get back just late enough to have to go find our friends as they went trick or treating.

While that was disappointing, what made the trip worthwhile, outside of seeing my grandparents, was the fact my grandmother always gave out full size Hershey bars.

I'm not sure where this picture was taken - although I suppose I could hazard a guess and say it was at my parents' first house. I don't think it is a professional shot.

I look at my own new son and look at this picture and see so much of me in him, at least from the nose up. He's a chunk and the boy in this picture is no lightweight either.

Note the "Superheroes" tablecloth for what I will take a guess is my eighth birthday party. Although, the theme of this picture is less important than who is in it.

Had I known when this Polaroid was snapped that this would be one of the few pictures I would have of my friend Dave, I most assuredly would not have made such a goofy face.

I saw my friend one day in June 2002 quite by happenstance, and less than a month later he was dead.

Dave, I miss you and I miss knowing you're alive.

The boy meets Santa for the first time. He's looking off at Daddy off camera.

This Santa was spectacular. He had the patience of old St. Nick, almost to a fault. Real beard and everything.

I found an article in the paper about him quite by happenstance. He's just this retired guy that loves to be Santa for a month a year.

The girl at a little more than a year and a half old and her old man...Goodness, I look so young there.

Here we are preparing for the New England Patriots to meet the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI in what would turn out to be a rather disappointing performance, and what I honestly thought would be preparing her for a lifetime of Boston sports disappointments.

The official "Babe Magnet" of Jaybotown. It would seem the young man was just lost enough to believe this 1984 Chevy Eurosport would be the answer to his "ain't got no girlfriend blues." To think I replaced Louie II (a brown 1974 Nova - Zoe's car was Louie) with this. What a hunk of junk.

Note those euro-sporty mag wheels. Later on, they would hold some killer white letter tires too. Zounds.

This is my dog growing up, Nu Nu. We got her when I was probably 10 and at the time she was probably 11 or so. She wasn't long for this world when this picture was taken.

A brittany spaniel/beagle mix, she was a wonderfully tempered, if not lethargic dog. She was really my dad's though and everyone knew it.

This is the only picture I can find of my maternal grandfather. He was a railroad locomotive engineer - I believe he worked out of the Dedham yards, so this is likely there. I just think it's a cool old photograph of a man I never really knew very well.

One of the many pictures of the happy couple on their wedding day.

July 1970

My six month picture. The patch on the hat says, "TWINS, ATHLETICS, ORIOLES" on the various segments of the ball. Huh. What an odd assortment.

Anyway, look at this picture of my son at about the same age. He's clearly the better looking of the two of us, but there's some of daddy in there.