When my grandmother died a decade ago I was cleaning out her attic when I found an old photo album in the corner. I found myself in one of the spots that appeared in the album (Oak Park) last week and took a photo. My great grandfather is at right in 1938.

Paying through the album tonight made me think about how we are tied together with all of those who went before us, especially our ancestors, and how the built environment can help you feel connected. My g-grandparents Charles and Lydia always called each other “dearie”.

So many of their photos aren’t posed but more candid. Here Charles is with his son my grandfather Richard at Christmas 1940. The bookcase behind him is in my living room right now. Don’t know the little girl.

Seeing photos in places that feel so familiar to me is weird too. This is one of a couple taken on Chicago’s west side boulevards, I suspect near Garfield Park. They were very fond of the park and conservatory.

This one feels particularly weird to me as I’m resting my feet on that foot stool at this exact moment.

Charles Schneider ran a business in Pilsen, Roberts Sash & Door, it’s why he moved to Chicago from Des Moines. The building still stands but has been vacant for years. My dad talks about playing in the building when he was young. I wish I could peek inside.

They were members of Unity Temple in Oak Park. As an architecture fan it’s amazing to see them sit there in 1937.

And then there was the war. My grandfather Richard enlisted and he’s pictured here in downtown Chicago.

He ultimately served as a lieutenant in the infantry and, sadly for him, lead soldiers landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day. He was never the same after that, couldn’t sleep for years I was told. The trauma of that day meant he died young, just a few years after his father at age 58.

I never knew these people but they touched my life via my father and I feel more connected to them living in Chicago myself and by the photographic record they left behind. Charles was a photo buff and shot still, stereoscopic and film. This was his city:

Here’s a film Charles shot in Garfield Park in 1942.

And a parade in downtown Oak Park he filmed in 1942. Great-grandmother Lydia appears several time in the Red Cross group.

These people played an outsized role in my father’s life. He always felt that nothing bad would ever happen to them as long as Charles and Lydia were there and nothing did until they had passed away. The photos and videos make me sad, melancholy I think, but also a little happy.