Photographs and Memories

One of the things that reminds me most of my daughter Lauren is when I see little kids at what I call “the age of wonder”. It is a time that their lives are filled with innocence, wonder, happiness and enthusiasm, they glow. Everything to a child in this phase is fun and filled with great joy. It is something we should never let life take away from us but it often does. I can see it in so many photographs, mementos, and memories I have of my daughter, LaLa. You can look at her school photos we now treasure, and see joy slowing ebbing out of her life.

The other day as I was pondering the special gift Lauren made for me, you see here. It is just a plate, it was a response and expression (LaLa was very creative) of a story she had learned from the Bible. It’s often referred to as “The Story of Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors”. There was even a play (1972) and a movie (1999) made about the story called “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat”. You can read the story in Genesis Chapters 36 and 37. Joseph had a great dream and vision etched in his heart by God. He learned quickly that we should not always reveal the dreams that lie deep in our hearts to just anyone, it was a mistake that cost a life-time. In the end, God brought great good and healing out of it. God has a way of doing that, often at the threshold of life’s greatest pains. I think Lauren was attracted to the story because she had a heart filled with many dreams, I wish so much that I could have watched those unfold!  As I looked at the beautiful art piece LaLa made for me I was reminded of a song I heard a long time ago. It was in a movie called “She Lives”, I could not tell you a thing about the movie, but I do remember the song, it stuck with me. It was written by Jim Croce when his wife told him she was pregnant with their son after having tried for a while to have children, it is called “Time in a Bottle”.  It is perhaps his best-known song.

He wrote another song that is so depictive of how life is when someone you love so much passes on. It is called “Photographs and Memories”. I have included the lyrics here:

“Photographs and memories

Christmas cards you sent to me

All that I have are these

To remember you

Memories that come at night

Take me to another time

Back to a happier day

When I called you mine

But we sure had a good time

When we started way back when

Morning walks and bedroom talks

Oh how I loved you then

Summer skies and lullabies

Nights we couldn’t say good-bye

And of all of the things that we knew

Not a dream survived

Photographs and memories

All the love you gave to me

Somehow it just can’t be true

That’s all I’ve left of you

But we sure had a good time

When we started way back when

Morning walks and bedroom talks

                                                                Oh how I loved you then”    Jim Croce 1974

I still love my daughter very much, I still miss her every day, I still have a hope of one day being with her (you can read why we have this hope here), man I can’t wait.

While photographs and memories can give us comfort, the best thing we can do is to enjoy the people we love now, while we are together.

That is one thing I feel people are learning from the COVID19 pandemic, what matters most is relationships!

That is never more true than when someone we love is fighting an addiction or mental health issue. Experience and science have shown that although the natural tendency for someone facing the fore mentioned is to isolate. That isolation is not helping them, in truth it is the opposite of what is healthiest and most helpful for them, connection.

What they really need is someone to be with them through their battle. Help them, of course, when we can, but above all else let them know they are loved they are cared for.

This weeks featured image is by Ruth Thorne-Thomsen – Dot Lady, 1983 . When we lose someone, we love very much in some way they are here with us through the “Photographs and Memories” we have. I am grateful for that!