Flipping through yearbook pages of the current crop of high school graduates, we noticed that virtually every girl had the same hair style - shoulder length and hanging down straight. The guys, however, sported several different looks, from spikey hair and buzz cuts to manes of curly masses.

We didn’t compare earrings – worn by either sex. And we didn’t consider the chosen clothing for these momentous pictures that will grace family pianos and mantles for decades to come. We just weighed in on the hair. Then we looked around at the photos we’ve framed and displayed in our own home over the years.

My high school graduation picture shows a very, very young looking girl who barely resembles me today. The evolution goes way beyond that funky, dreadful high school hair style that may never have been popular, even in its time.

Our wedding picture is another stunner. No one believes I was ever that thin, let alone willing to be married with an odd haircut that defies description. Then there’s my husband, also at his best weight but with more hair, which was carefully combed in a modified pompadour and Brylcreamed beyond belief.

Our son’s early baby pictures are, of course, adorable, as are all baby pictures. I had wisped his hair together and combed it up, very chic, I thought then.

His high school graduation photo was taken in the height of the blow-dry era. He, who now shaves his entire head, had perfect, thick brown hair. Between the baby pix and his current cropping, there are school and camp pictures with hair in a variety of lengths and styles. Somehow those pictures don’t compel people to gasp as they do when they see my wedding photo, but I’m not ready to dwell on that without signing on for therapy, and maybe a diet plan.

A framed photo of my parents, taken on a beach in New England, shows Dad in "bathing trunks" with a striped, zip-off top and Mom in what looks like knickers. Very flapper-era.

The picture of my grandmother and grandfather, looking staged and stern, reflects an even earlier time, when people posed in rigid stances and apparently were never asked to smile.

Today pictures fly through cyberspace between  families and friends. Entire wedding and bar mitzvah albums are online before the thank-you notes hit the mail. Our C-drives may be filled with photos which can be either downloaded or ordered in print format. But they’ll never replace the need for frames to freeze those faces into permanent reminders of what we all looked like at one time or another.

Now, of course, if you’re not happy with what the lens has captured, you can always "photo-shop" the image, erase wrinkles and crop yourself into a more handsome appearance. It may be a form of cheating, but it will save you from a lot of gasps from those who are suddenly seeing you through a very different lens. We obviously didn't have that option years ago.