The memory capturer who preserves the story

Written March 11, 2023

Day 18 of 40 in a 45-day period: Early on in this writing initiative I realized one of the challenges to posting these vignettes was a visual to go along with them. Often I knew what the perfect picture was but it was located 200 miles away in a photo album in my parents’ house.

Fortunately I know our family’s in-house photographer quite well as he has documented my entire life. My dad has probably spent a quarter of his life with his left eye closed, squinting through his right to capture moments and memories. He has experienced holidays, parties, family functions, sporting events, showers, vacations, group photos and weddings through the lens of a viewfinder.

He has also proven to have impressive physicality, leaping over coffee tables, squeezing by Christmas trees, ducking umbrellas (at the beach) and dodging Barney, my grandmother’s dog he hated with a white hot intensity to steal a line from Ted Lasso. I wonder if the “accidental” step on Barney’s paw or tail was truly an accident, but one does what they need to do to beat the timer and get the shot.

As such, he has received text messages from me over the last few weeks that begin with “Dad do you” and end with:

Know if you have a picture of the basketball hoop/driveway?

Recall any pictures of me when I was working at the Turtle?

Have the picture of me with Pop Pop when I was close to 1 (I think) and I’m holding his pack of More cigarettes?

Have a shot of Lauren and I lounging on the hood of Baby Blue, maybe in the spring of 1997?

Not only has he come through on every request, he is quick and sends options that are a better match for the story than I had in mind.

While I have loved writing these stories, looking back at the pictures invites memories I’d forgotten about and reminds me of how much we can change yet stay the same. Thank goodness for the family archivists out there who collect all the memories and moments, preserving the roots of the stories.

A picture may be worth a thousand words but if you can’t find it, there’s not much to say. Thank you dad for helping me bring so many stories to light. This little project wouldn’t be nearly this fun without you, 200 miles away and all.

Photo Credit: Jared Slater Photography