My grandfather, Henry DeForest, lived to the age of 98. He was a vivid character right up until the end when advanced age finally took it's toll. We visited him on his deathbed and he suddenly started singing a ditty from a long forgotten era; "Get up old man, get a woman if you can, if you can't get a woman get a man!" And then he burst out laughing.

He had an extraordinary life if nothing else but for the fact that he lived so long. When he was young horses were still a popular form of transportation. He fought in both world wars, attended Harvard and traveled the world. As an inventor he was credited with creating the roll-top dispenser. He patented tap-dancing shoes that made an extra click with each step. He designed them for use by his daughters, my mother and aunt.

Henry passed away in early 2001. For his last few decades he was an enthusiastic junk collector and he kept several sheds filled with what can only be described as "crap." My brother Scott and I drove down to Cape Cod to help clean up the property. Everything of value had since been claimed by various relatives. No big deal but I was hoping to perhaps find a nice trinket as a keepsake and reminder of my heritage. One box in the shed was full of rusty old window weights and broken garden tools. As I emptied it I found a stained manilla folder at the bottom. In that folder was patent application paperwork and a random Polaroid snapshot from maybe the early 70's. The Polaroid was startling to me, because it was of the exact scene that had been recurring in my dreams for several years. It was a Twilight Zone moment to say the least.

The black and white image depicts the view looking out onto Buzzards Bay from my Grandparent's living room window. The trees are bare as in winter. The setting sun peeks through the clouds and brilliantly reflects off the calm waters in the distance. The stark contrast and dreamlike quality of the image calls up odd memories.

Some details: That's a window shade pull-string with an embroidered loop that hangs down there. If you didn't know better you might think it was a tire-swing on the outside. Along the bottom you can just make out the split-rail fence that separated the houses. On the top you can see the streaks left from unevenly applied fixer. For these old Polaroids you would snap the picture, yank a paper cartridge out of the camera and wait a minute. You would then peel the picture away from it's wrapper and swab it with a chemical "fixer" to preserve it. I still remember the acrid smell of the procedure.

This is the original scan of the copper plate	A few quick image adjustments produced this

Another keepsake I found was a printing block possibly from the 1940's. It's an etched copper plate nailed to a small maple block. It was almost certainly created for use in a print advertisement. I tried printing it onto paper but I don't have the equipment to apply the massive pressure required.

As an alternative, I scanned the copper plate and used Photoshop to convert the scan into something usable. The result depicts Henry exactly how I would have imagined him as a younger man. You can see the confidence on his lips and defiance in his eyes.

My only regret is that I didn't get to know him better.