Week 22: Saving Moments

Yesterday my grandmother showed me a stack of photos that she was getting rid of. Apparently she has far too many, and these we the ones being cut. As I began to flip through them, I wondered how she could stand to throw away all these perfectly preserved moments from so long ago, from her life. Granted, she still had boxes and boxes of them - but none of those were these. No two pictures were the same - what made certain moments more valuable than others?

I guess it's a matter of perspective. Although I likely have more photos on this very laptop than my grandparents took - or had taken of them - in their lives, their collection spans over eighty years, while mine covers less than twenty. Does having lived eighty+ years of "moments" mean that some become expendable, even forgettable? I wouldn't willingly part with any of my photos, although I know many of them document meaningless things. Will this ever change? In sixty years, if .jpg and .png become obsolete, if I lose all or most of my huge collection, how will I feel?

Of course, there are certain moments that rise above the rest. But I don't think they are the moments we expect. If it ever came down to it, if ever I had to chose only a few photos to save, it wouldn't be my graduation picture. It would be the long shadows on the wooden dock, splattered with water droplets and wet footprints, that day after final exams when we took a picnic to the river.

It wouldn't be me winning my first ribbon at the fall fair. It would be me looking off into the distance, leaning on my pony's shoulder while he eats grass.

It wouldn't be my grandparents' wedding photo, smiling stiffly outside of a church.

It would be this.

After the ceremony. Being mauled by well-wishing family and friends. Catching each others eye, and sharing a moment that was just for them.

I saved this picture from the perilous "throw-away" pile. I guess everyone has a different idea of what moments are worth saving.

And I guess that's the point of taking photos at all.


Here are a few more gems I saved:

           (a young grandpa)

                                                       

(a young grandma playing tennis and harvesting maple sap  - she is on the left)

  

(grandma, grandpa and the whole gang up at the lake)

Goodnight, bloglings