Lists, Letters, and Studio Pictures

In a box of random memorabilia at Ye Ye's, I found grocery lists, handwritten letters, and pictures of people posed and framed in gray cardboard frames.  Since the owner was in the mood to give me lots of things for free (given what Mike was spending) I came home with a few.

As it turned out, he'd bought the whole box from a man at a garage sale--the belongings of the seller's grandfather.

"Hey, don't sell these to me, Man!" the buyer said.  "Your children might want them."

But the seller insisted and there they all are, a stranger's family history in a box waiting for people like me to shuffle though them and wonder: Who are these people?  Why would a man part with his grandmother's grocery list, his grandfather's serious studio portrait, and letters that had once circulated from one to the other?

Countless stories are embedded in lists and pictures--and I pore over them for about an hour.  Who are these seven children sitting on laps and flanking their parents, waiting for the flash  bulb to pop?
Why does this young bride look so grim? Who made her elaborate wedding gown?  What became of this couple?

A price list probably posted beside a cash register:

In their letters, women draw their house plans, report on the health of their family members, describe the weather, and tell who came calling and what they brought.