Category Archives: Family

Fresh Egg Run

My siblings are flanking me here in Torroella de Montgrí, Catalonia, Spain, just in front of our house at the time. If you look carefully, you can see the castle we used to hike up the hill to. Dad had the wherewithal to write the exact date on the back of this photo with the comment “fresh egg run.”  I remember regularly being sent to the end of that street to get eggs from a woman who I used to witness pick them out from under the hens right there in her home.

1976-03-20 Spain Bill Hayden wrote the fresh egg run -- 3 kids spain on2

Holiday Photo

SPAIN1 - Copy

My siblings are flanking me here, as we sat for official holiday portraits in Spain.  We are sitting in front of a sheepskin in our living room (it helped to keep the leather couch from getting too sticky).  I still love having sheepskin rugs (even faux) around my house. My father was stationed in Estartit, but we lived in Torroella de Montgrí. I believe this was the 1975 holiday season since we only lived there for two years and by February 1977 we had moved to Governor’s Island, New York.  

My Parents’ Courtship

Just prior to their wedding my parents were chaperoned by my grandfather, Giuseppe Benenati.  My parents had met when my father was stationed in Calabria right there on the beach in front of the station.  They corresponded for a few years and send audio tapes back and forth to each (one of which I’ve digitized).  They spent some time getting to know each other in Florence, close to where my mother attended college and took these pictures.