Looking back over some post-birthday thoughts, I found this from April 18, 2014, which I am reposting. We were still in Dallas – and the untidy stack of boxes bugged me – but never their contents! Would it surprise you to know how little progress I’ve made sorting them?
No?
You are right – they reside now in our basement but safely, in large clear plastic bin where [perhaps] I will sort them this summer when it is too hot to garden.
What to Do With Memories?
I drove my kids bonkers I snapped so many photos. The glorious records remain, albeit in some want of organization. After a wonderful birthday celebration, I started rummaging through the boxes of photos and memorabilia that I had rough sorted when we shipped them to Texas from Maryland. Now I was looking for a specific photo of our daughter and me. I lost a couple of hours last night, remembering and ruminating about folks – whose precious images were caught as we shared meals, events, adventures, or just a few quiet moments.
Unmatched Photo Boxes
A Memory of My Mother
Most were familiar old friends – but I discovered a new one. I came across a forgotten photo confirming that a playful girl was just trapped in my mother’s aging body. She frequently remarked she felt like she was 18 – until she caught sight of herself in a mirror, she added, laughing.
The photo proves her assertion. On our daughter’s third birthday, she took her turn on the new swing set. She sure looks more vigorous than I thought her to be that day – of course, not clearly noticeable are the persistent problems that zapped her of endurance: osteoporosis, and an ocular cicatricial pemphigoid. (OCD)
Acting Her Real Age
How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were? ~Satchel Paige
Spending so much time looking at every body growing up and older, showed me again, those whom I thought were so old at the time of the pictures, really weren’t so old – and people I think of as young today – are getting older!
- Old age is fifteen years older than I am. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
- It’s sad to grow old, but nice to ripen. ~Brigitte Bardot
Perhaps This Summer I’ll Get Them Sorted
I may never get these photos arranged by date, subject – or age and stage, but I am glad I know where they are – for the most part. I can re-visit the happy times, and even see a few mementos of moments overlooked – like my mother’s picture. Technology may wreck such happy prospects in the future. Andree Seu Peterson wrote,
“With one flick of a finger, I accidentally lost a year’s worth of photos the other day. My cell phone ‘gallery’ went from 1,225 photos to 41.” (One Irretrievable Folly)
You can’t hide your true colors as you approach the autumn of your life. ~Author Unknown
A Birthday Question, the Day After