October 21, 2010

what we remember.....

photo taken about 14 years ago

i feel terrible that i don't remember more
~
i don't really remember what my babies smelled like when i cradled them in my neck, unless i smell a new baby today and then those memories come back and knock me over. i don't remember all the funny things they said. or all the questions they asked me day in and day out except for
"why"
~
i don't remember what the tooth fairy left under their pillows, but i know she visited them. i remember letting a scared child or two stay in the safety of our bed for awhile, but i don't remember what scared them.
~
but
because of photos
i know my daughter was a crayola crayon for halloween when she was 4. and i know i was a witch. i remember rock climbing and loving it. i remember the day my son flew over the handle bars on his bike and went face first into a wet puddle of mud. i remember homecomings and proms and all the dresses we spent days shopping for. and hairstyles. oh the hair. i remember my son playing dress up with all the items i used for little girl tea parties. the hats. the boas. the earrings. and i remember not telling him those were just for girls. i remember the head- gear my daughter had to wear at night with her braces. i remember all the clothes i used to wear that now hang on the racks in the vintage aisle at good-will. and back to the hair.
i remember all my bad perms.
~
but
only
because of photos
~
photos help open my memory bank and the flooding begins
~
the
"oh remember this and the oh remember thats"
are loud
when my unorganized boxes of too many years swimming together are seen again
and
the laughter
well
there's always laughter when the old family photo albums are opened
~
real.from the heart.deep.special.unreplacable.laughter
and
the memories
oh
the warm memories
that belong only to me and my loved ones
fill my heart to bursting
and
are heavy and beautiful
like my most favorite old quilt that i never want to sleep without
~
thank you god for photos
~



25 comments:

  1. What a lovely way to put it. I agree, photos are a connection in so many ways -- to our memories, to our families, to feelings and hopes and laughs. If only there was a way to capture smells, too!

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  2. all so very true. 80s hair is always the best for a good laugh. and you look exactly the same...
    i say thank God for YOUR photos, and for you.

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  3. relating to this post big time:)

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  4. They do preserve memories that would otherwise slip away, don't they?

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  5. I agree, Beth - except...my kids think I had terrible taste because I bought them checked pants, flared at the bottom. It was the style "back then" I tell them! Yes, old photos do get some laughs.

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  6. I agree totally. I think I prefer stills also for they seem to capture the essence of the momemt. Video is great too, just different.

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  7. That's exactly why it says "Saving memories through pictures..." in my profile! Photos have always been my memory trigger...and that is true even more as I'm aging:)

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  8. Thanks for YOUR photos! And, thanks for families, memories, photos. Don't forget family Facebook and Podcasts of family stories ... hopefully our digital stuff is as good and long lasting as a shoebox full of prints.

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  9. Oh YeS! What would we do without photos. Wouldn't it be lovely if we could capture those scents and words in a box and pull them out to remember too?

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  10. i miss having my old photos- i do. i lost them in the move, including all the old relatives.

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  11. "heavy and beautiful
    like my most favorite old quilt that I never want to sleep without"

    This part was my favorite. :)

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  12. I love old photos and old warm memories that are like a favorite quilt you can wrap around yourself.

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  13. See, you GET it: Thank God for photos. yep.

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  14. Yahoo! Yes! I can't imagine my world without them.
    They are the first thing on my list to grab if my house is ever burning down:))

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  15. i am in the business i am in because i love photos and i became a retoucher because i loved saving all those memory joggers. this is so well said, and you look just the same. wow!

    xoxo
    Debi

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  16. Photos do help us open up the door to the memories. We are packing everything in preparation for our move the end of the month, and I took time when I was packing the family photo albums and laughed and cried again as I looked through the albums. Like you, the photos bring out the feelings I had at the time, the fun with my kids as they were growing up.

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  17. We just had a reunion of sorts with my husband's brothers and mom. My husband brought old photos that he had been saving. There was so much laughter and memories for them came flooding back. The laughter that you speak of triggered this memory for me. Such a sweet sound it was!!
    Hugs
    SueAnn

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  18. Photos are the lifeline for our memories! I swear, if it's not in a photo, most of the time I don't remember it! Sorry I haven't been around much, but I've been quite busy lately.

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  19. so true. of course I wish I had taken more.
    or develop more,or frame more, etc.

    but I so so agree. and sometimes the photo captures the important part, not the worry or hectic or petty . just the love.

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  20. and , um , how come you haven't aged at all? seriously?

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  21. THANK GOODNESS for photos! my memory is horrible too but when i look at photos it all starts coming back. and thank goodness my parents took lots of photos. i can't imagine a life without photos.

    you haven't aged a day .

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  22. Amen, sister! I have at least one album a year for the past 30, lining a shelf in our bedroom, and I'm so grateful for them. They are my memories.

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  23. YES!! Photos and my own words. That's why I treasure my journals. And my computer - all the digital files. I had every single old photo I've ever owned scanned and turned digital. YAY!

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  24. I was thinking the same as Debi...you look the same! Good genes you have my friend.
    Photographs are magical objects, aren't they? I'm amazed that some human being was able to invent them..such a beautiful mystery, how they work....and nothing can take you back more vividly to a time and place.

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**I love reading the comments you leave, as they make me feel like we're sitting in my kitchen, having a cup of tea, discussing life and wondering where all the time has gone ...beth