Elizabeth Kipling and a Brand New Day

A picture is a piece of history.

The question is: How did Elizabeth Kipling want to be remembered? She was thirty-eight years of age and living in Fredericksville, Illinois. It was June 18, 1934, the day she planned to have her portrait taken at the local photography studio. To her mother this meant making another keepsake for future generations in the Kipling family photo album. To Elizabeth, this would be a permanent memory of who she was in her adulthood. Would she one day be remembered as a the woman unable to save her marriage or as the woman who made a difference in the world?

It was three-thirty in the afternoon on a warm, summer day. Elizabeth Kipling was sitting in her car alone after completing her list of errands. Her family had planned a week visit to the tiny town of Fredericksville for their annual “family picture day”. Although she knew their ulterior motive was to keep her mind off her recent divorce, she didn’t mind the comfort. She decided to appear as cheerful as she could be in th. Her life had just taken an unexpected turn for the worst when the man of her dreams had admitted to her about his long, torrid affair with a business associate’s wife. Three weeks had now passed but she was still unable to fathom how ten years of what she believed was marriage bliss had ended in the argument of the year. There was still a large dent in her dining room wall where the plate hit after she had thrown it at him.

Elizabeth didn’t want to spend any more time thinking about the past. She looked down at the To-Do list in her hand. The last item on the list was “Buy a hat”. She crumpled up her To-Do list and stuffed it in a bag. She looked over at the passenger seat at the box that sat in it, then picked it up and placed it on her lap. Inside the box there was a white Sunday hat with fake flowers lined around the top. Hats were something she had always worn in photos, per her mother’s request. Her mother had always felt that a woman’s best accessory was not jewelry , but rather a hat. “You can set yourself apart from just being any ol’ lady with a hat on your head,” she would always say, smiling. Elizabeth never really cared for hats herself, but she wanted to show her mother, and everyone else for that matter, that she was going to be okay.

The bells of the town church rang letting Elizabeth know that it was now 4pm and that she had to head over to the portrait office to get ready. She got out of her car and opened her trunk to get her things. She walked down the block to Newman’s Portraits. There, her parents, her three siblings, and her five nieces and nephews were the rambunctious group crowded outside. After saying a quick hello, she went inside with her mother and sister, Karen, and they headed towards the changing room. “Elizabeth, quickly change so that your sister can prep your hair and makup for the photo,” said her mother. Elizabeth changed into her dress and sat down in the chair in front of the mirror.

She said in silence as Her mother and Karen discussed the town’s gossips while she had her hair styled. It was then when she began realize something: To her family, this would be portrait in commemoration of the year they would only mention in hushed voices as “when Ellie got divorced and was never the same after that.” She hated the thought of the pity they would have for her and promised to herself, right then and there, that she would have this portrait be a good memory to share with her children. She had none to speak of at that moment, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t thought of having a couple one day. She imagined holding little Regina and Thomas in her lap as they looked through the Kipling family album. “Mommy,” they would say, “you look funny with that hat on.” Her ridiculous hat, she thought. Thirty-eight and still wearing those floppy hats her mother always made her wear. She laughed to herself. Her family’s crazy antics and need for perfection made her wear that silly hat. Her laughing turned into giggling. That hat was almost as silly as the pink, fluffy slippers her ex-husband loved to wear after his mother had given him them one Christmas. She couldn’t contain her laughter any longer. Her laughing made her mother and sister cease their gossip to look down at her. “What’s so funny, Ellie?”, asked Karen. Elizabeth kept laughing, until the photography walked into the room. “I must have missed a very funny joke,” he said. Elizabeth let out a small cough and smiled. “Are you three ready to have your portraits taken?” asked the photographer. The three women nodded and left the changing room into the photography room where the rest of the family was grouped.

Her mother ushered them all into a line, Elizabeth being placed third. The members of her family stood by as each individual took a turn sitting on the stool in front of the camera for his/her portrait. It was now Elizabeth’s turn. She walked over, avoiding her mother’s attempt to adjust her hat and collar. She sat down on the stool. “Smile,” said the photographer. At that moment, she couldn’t help but think how proudly happy she wa. The thought of a new life, all the new people she was going to meet, and the end of all her sadness had given her new outlook on life. Nothing was going to stop her from having the happiness she had wanted but had yet to achieve. “Can I try something new for the portrait?” asked Elizabeth. “Okay,” said the photographer hesitantly. Elizabeth adjusted her hat so that it now sat on the side of her head. She pursed her lips and lifted her chin up. “This,” she thought, “is the beginning of my life.”

The camera flashed.


People also view

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *