Memories

I've recently decided to go through some our photograph albums. There's several of them in the hall, and so far, I've gone from 1992 (my birth year) up until sometime in 2008. Why? Well, there's one simple reason: memories. Photographs are so important for recalling memories of what happened in the past. The journey has been an interesting one, seeing how fashions have changed, seeing people as they have grown older, and seeing how they have changed. But they're also tinged with some sadness, especially when I see photos of my late grandparents (Mum's parents). Yes, we had lost the Grandad we knew in August 2007, despite him dying in February 2010, and Grandma suddenly dying two days after Dan and Louise's wedding. What makes it even more upsetting is that we have a photo of her that was taken the morning before she died, and it was probably the last photo anybody had of her when she was still alive. In a way, I suppose that's one way in which photographs are so important - they also help us remember people that we've lost over the years, people that we hold so closely to, people we don't want to let go.

A few months ago, I also watched all our old home videos, remembering even more about what life was like in years gone by. Many videos, many years, many memories. Home videos can be even more important than photos - they show us how we used to talk, how we used to act, as well as what we looked like. Memories are so precious to us, and if we don't take photos, record videos, and suchlike, how on earth are we going to be able to remember people? Photos and home videos are so vital in recalling those that we held dear to us that we cannot afford to lose them.