Favorite Photo, Week 2 of #52Ancestors

This photo of my 2nd great grandparents on my dad's side, Charles Arthur Welch & Mary Loiza Hinckley, has always been my very favorite family history photo.  I have it displayed prominently in my new home "family history" office.  There's something so perfect about their middle-aged selves, the years worth of ups and downs that they have surely experienced together, holding their heads so slightly tilted with affection, softly expressing their sincerest feelings of pure love that warms my heart.  In a time when most photos were stern or solemn, these two so naturally held a pose that shows their truest affections.  I love the soft smile on my dear grandmother's face, it tells of sincere and content happiness and love.  When I look at it I'm reminded of the times when I just breathe in the same feelings as I admire the wonderful man I was lucky enough to marry, with him everything is just whole.  I feel much the same about Charles's expression, but in case you can't quite sense his reciprocation of her feelings in the photograph, I found this poem that he wrote after his sweet Mary had passed away, many years after this photo was taken, confirming everything to me that the faces in this photo tell:

"I have sailed upon the ocean
To fair lands across the sea,
Been enraptured with their greatness,
There's a dearer spot to me:
It lies on a lonely hillside
Where the moon its vigil keeps
Dearer far than other landscapes
Is the place where Mary sleeps.  

On broad lands with fruit and flowers,
Viewed the beauty of the mountains
With their shady nooks and bowers;
but with all their glorious settings
Where the wild rose softly peeps,
Give to me the place much dearer
Tis the spot where Mary sleeps. 

And my heart with rapture thrills
When I see a lovely valley
I have looked with joy and gladness
Yes, I love the land of sunlight,
With its rivulets and rills
Other climes may be much fairer
With their bales and mountain steeps,
But to me the place that's dearest
Is the place where Mary sleeps. 

Fierce winds blow upon the hilltops,
Wild winds fill the mountain glen,
Bright stars give their light forever
And out journey here will end.
When the Master's voice shall call me
Where the Shoshone River sweeps
Let me lie in peace beside her
In a grave where Mary sleeps."
                    -Charles Arthur Welch''

I'm so grateful for my great grandmother and great aunt who preserved these priceless heirlooms.

This copy is from my wonderful Aunt Mame, who has it among her treasure trove of family memorabilia. When I first moved back to Utah a few years ago, I was feeling VERY motivated to take on the task of digitizing all of my families stuff and Aunt Mame was my first target. :) Every moment of this project was time I will always cherish. Mame has inherited much of the family memorabilia on both the Lyman and Welch lines so it took several visits to her Parowan home before we were able to complete the project. Due to this project I have a deep love and connection to Mame, and her mother (Mary Welch Lyman, Charles & Mary's youngest daughter). During the digitizing project it became apparent very quickly that I had inherited a love for family and family history preservation from them and I'm so grateful to share that bond.