Une Envie de Sel

What I remember:
My grandfather, born in Den Haag, Holland, educated in England, met his future wife in Florence, Italy where her French family had moved when her father became a professor at a Florentine university. Though my grandmother was engaged to someone else at the time, they fell madly in love and were married within a year. They returned to Den Haag where their first child, my mother, was born, and later returned once again to France. An engineer by trade, my grandfather was able to obtain work in the US when war broke out in Europe, and France was invaded. The family relocated to Dobbs Ferry, New York, and eventually to Woodstock, where they would settle for many years, before returning to France later in life. While in the US, my grandfather invented a cooling system for early computers (the enormous ones that took up an entire wall). His invention turned into an thriving business, and he spent a great deal of time lecturing abroad, including Asia. Raised in Catholic schools, my grandfather had in his adult life adopted a form of Buddhism, which practice he brought even to his professional life, so Asia held a special place in his heart. He brought home gifts from the East, fans, pearls, kimonos, the ubiquitous gilded statues of Buddha which inhabited both home and workplace. This picture was taken at one of Woodstock's famed summer costume parties. I love that he was man not afraid to wear a kimono and eyeliner.