the hardin family in kodachrome

I love these Kodak Kodachrome photos of Gerald and Sadie with their only son Greg from the late 1950s. At this time, Gerald was in the army, so the young family lived in Georgia. I love that Sadie is wearing full makeup with her pajamas. Aren't they the perfect example of a 1950s couple? Their bedroom suite and curtains are so typical of the time. I especially love their floral garbage can. Jonathan and I have a similar one in our bathroom today.

Our Kodachrome obsession isn't a new one. You might remember these Kodachrome images of my great-grandmother Elsie and my mother Julie from the same period. Our Christmas card collection featured Kodachrome images from the 1940s, and we also shared these Kodachrome images of Ohio in the fall.

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one year ago...

One year ago, Gerald & Joan played a part in this wedding. A simple twist of fate made it possible, and the experience was truly life-changing. Thank you, Lauren and Chris, for allowing us to help create your dream wedding day. It launched our own small business dreams...

Happy (early) anniversary, Lauren and Chris!

Vintage props, styling, LOVE letters, bunting, menus and programs by Gerald & Joan. 

Photography by Amy Hutchison.

family stories: jennie moore cannon

Jennie Moore Cannon was my grandfather's mother. Sadly, she died in 1920 as a consequence of his birth. When I was young, my grandfather told me he was born prematurely, and they put him in the oven to keep him warm. Recently, my aunt told me that the doctors wanted Jennie to have an abortion to save her life, but she bravely refused. She is buried in a field near Sweeny, Texas.

After she died, my great-grandfather left my grandfather to be raised by Jennie's mother, Martha, and her second husband, Jacob Van Bibber, in Corinth, Mississippi. He returned to Texas for work, but he was in and out of my grandfather's life.

The photograph below shows my great-great-grandmother Martha and her husband Jacob, their two children Jake and Mayme Van Bibber, and Jennie and Andy Moore, Martha's children from her first marriage. The Van Bibbers, my grandfather and his father are all buried in Henry Cemetery in Corinth, Mississippi. 

why mississippi?

The South has been my home for 22 of my 30 years. Before I found myself in the small town of Booneville, Mississippi, I called the Royal Boroughs of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England my home.

People always want to know how my family ended up in Mississippi. It's a long story, but this article sums it up quite nicely. A chance meeting over tennis initiated a love story that would span the generations. It would eventually lead my grandparents back to Italy for 30 years, where my American born father would meet my American born mother, who was studying abroad in Rome. My dad's career in the music industry sent them to England, where my sister and I were welcomed into the world. My grandparents retired to Mississippi in 1990, and our family joined them two years later. Because my parents chose Mississippi over California (where Joan lived), and my grandparents retired to Booneville instead of Meridian or Corinth (where they had previously lived), I shared a hometown with my future husband. Although our own love story didn't begin until we became neighbors (also by chance) at the University of Mississippi, many of our childhood memories and acquaintances are the same. After college, Jonathan's career brought us across the state line to Tennessee. At that time, we were ready for a break from Mississippi. We needed a fresh start.

Over the past eight years, we have happily adopted Tennessee as our new home, but all it takes is a weekend trip to Mississippi to remember where we -- and our parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents before us -- began. This article is a brilliant reminder that Mississippi is very much a part of our past, present and future. Our roots will always run back to Mississippi.