Saving Memories
I read an article in last Sunday's Boston Globe by Beverly Beckham, and what a timely article it was.

In When memories are merely jogging in place Beckham wrote:

"When my daughter turned 21, I didn't write about it, and she didn't write about it, or paste a coaster in a book or preserve it in any way.

And so it came, it went, and it's gone.

Most days are. We live thousands of them and recall just a few. Pictures capture some. And words. And song.

And sometimes something as simple as a matchbook cover or a ticket stub will bring back a day, or at least a part of it."

Recently I posted a recipe for potato pancakes and mentioned how I have been trying for years to make them like my mother's. When I spoke to Steve about what he thought would be a good photo to put up, he asked me if I had a picture of my mother cooking. That got me thinking about the pictures I have of her, and I realized that I have very few pictures of my mother, and those that I have are mostly formal pictures taken on special occasions.

My parents did not have a camera, that was the furthest thing on their minds. My mother stayed home, kept the home fires burning, and my dad worked hard just making a living. Fortunately my aunt had a camera so I do have a few childhood pictures, very few.

Maybe it was just my family that did not take pictures but I think that's the way it was, way back then.



When pictures were taken they were mostly group family pictures and no one smiled. This picture is of a shoe factory in Lynn, Massachusetts. My father-in-law is in the first row, fourth from the left.

Apparently the photographer did not say, "cheese."

When I was in my twenties, I was the proud owner of a baby brownie and started to save memories.



For our wedding, we hired a professional photographer.

After I was married, we got a camera that took photos and slides.

Lots of pictures were taken of Steve as he was growing up, birthday parties, vacations and family get-togethers.



Not many candid shots, but there were a few. ;-)

The more I thought about it, the more I was remembering the pictures that we took and finally I thought of a photo that was taken of my sister-in-law when she moved into her new apartment.

Minnie was a single lady who didn't cook much but she wanted to make us "a dinner" to celebrate her new place.



As you can see from the picture it was a big deal for her to do it. That's what I call "a good candid shot." Wish I had more of those.

Aren't we lucky today to have so many ways to save memories - cameras, scrapbooking, blogs and video blogs and who knows what else is just around the corner.

posted by Steve Garfield @ 5:36 PM | Permalink | I LOVE COMMENTS >>