Images that matter
August 15th, 2011 by John MorrisAt the recent cousins’ dinner, the ones named Bogush walked in with armfuls of old photos. My late Aunt Theresa had saved all her photos, and the brothers wanted to disperse them to the other six families. It was their way to find closure while doing a good act for us all.
I soon learned the box for the Morris family was filled with golden memories of long ago days. Pictures that make us wonder if we were ever that young. We hooted at hairstyles and eyeglass fashions. It made for a good time just passing through them.
The box’s bottom held ten photo booklets once popular decades ago when we took our exposed film to places like Camera Craft for developing. These booklets helds photos of three Mascherino Aunts’ 1991 visit to our ancestral hometown of Teramo, Italy.
How best to share this bounty? I assigned myself a new and worthy quest. I’ll scan the pictures and post them on an internet photo site. Then I will alert my younger cousins in Italy about where to go to see them in the hopes they’ll be able to show them to my older ones. My mind’s eyes plays out a scene of them looking at them with excitement – especially the ones in their 70s (Maria Pia, JoAnna and MiMi). I would love to be there.
In the doing of this quest, I learned a fact about me.
As I sorted through the booklets, I selected to scan only the ones including family. The ones with background and historical sites were passed over. It struck me that all the pictures we take while vacationing of touristy stuff doesn’t stand the test of time. Sure we trot them out to show friends because we’re expected to provide such a show.
As the years roll by, what eventually matters the most about our photos is freezing a moment in time with our loved ones as the subject. Then, many years later, we can look at them and remember the good times.
Tutto bon – it’s all good.