its-the-vintage-aesthetic - Tumblr blog

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College World Series

Omaha, Nebraska

1998

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Endless

Circa 1994

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Driving through Utah

Circa 1995

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Las Vegas, Circa 2002

Just a few years prior, my Dad switched to a digital camera and the quality became apparent.

This was a favorite destination of ours, we used to stay at the Venetian and no nothing all day but hang at the pools and wander around.

This year was different, I had moved out to Los Angeles to attend UCLA so I drove out here to meet him. It was my first adult vacation with my Dad, though I was not yet old enough to gamble.

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Found these randomly.

I wasn't there, don't know where this is and not sure if that's my Dad.

These look pretty sweet still...

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Las Vegas and I

Circa 1999

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Denver International Airport

Circa 1995

My father believed in the power of technology and the potential to make our world more cozy through the use of digital communications, one of those being the use of email.

He encouraged me to set one up, yet I thought I had no use for one. After much pestering, I was persuaded. To make use of this new email, my father would send me these scanned images. It would take about twenty minutes to load onto our screen, but I had to admit, watching these images onto a computer screen was pretty rad.

These images were a few which were sent, and thankfully it shouldn't take as long to appear anymore.

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Manhattan, New York City

Circa 1997

My father was a Jewish chap from New Jersey. He would take any chance he could get to take the train to Mid Town and wander around.

He never grew out of it, so after joining the Air Force and moving out west, he'd get another chance to wander when a work assignment took him back to the turf which he knew so well, that being New York City.

This time he brought a camera, and took as many pictures as the film can handle.

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Cave Exploration

Circa 2010

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Mexico City

Circa 2003

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Recollections

I am not the original Woolven Traveler.

This past month has been very turbulent for me as my father had recently passed away. We have become very close in these last few years where we have become a source of support for each other, even though he had been living in Spain while I resided in Los Angeles.

I had the immense blessing and honor to be by his side in his last moments, one of his last words to me was about how proud he was with who I was as a person. I told him that I owed my maturity to him since I looked up to him my entire life and through those final hours.

Upon hearing that, he shed his last tears in this world, as I shared a few of my own. He then pointed to his belongings which I gladly retrieved. He asked me to take his collection of keys to pull out a bright purple one. I did. He then told me the address of a storage unit he had set aside to which he requested that I visit afterwards.

He left this world in courage and peace, as I remained holding his hand with this key in between.

The next day, I visited this storage unit, to which his most precious belongings were found. There were various artifacts, but one particular small box was found which contained various memory cards and hard disks which I retrieved and opened once I came to his house. It was his photography collection, thousands of images which were taken over the course of several decades. All of which he had now given to me to enjoy and share.

Having now entrusted his illustrious and rich dynasty to me, I now have what I hold to be the most valuable of his material things: his memories and recollections of a life of happiness and love.

Now it is my joy to share some of these images so that his memory can remain even beyond my own lifetime.

D.M.W.

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Arizona

Circa 1998

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New York City

Circa 1998

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Pikes Peak

Circa 1998