Nostalgia

My oldest cousin sent me 35 old photos a few weeks ago. We have a family website on which we post news, photos, and other items of interest to the extended family on my father's side. The photos all came from her mother, my dad's oldest sister, who is 95 years old and still doing just fine. She would have taken this photo 58 years ago when we all still lived in a small dusty prairie town. The grinning kid with the suspenders and tweed pants is me. The others are cousins from two other familys and a sister.

I have strong and fond memories of those days and a photo like this totaly brings me back to those days, the sights, the sounds, the smells, and the wonderful experiences. As time went on, I grew more distant from some of my cousins, but especially the ones in this photo. The little guy in the front, in the heavy sweater, eating the apple, is no longer with us as he had a fatal heart attack two years ago. I had not seen him since these early days and feel a great loss because of it.

Today, with our digital cameras and cell phone cameras, we snap away and have tens of photos for every single occassion we ever attend. As we over record the moment, we take it for granted and even years later wonder why we took so many photos. Back then, photography was rare and to capture a moment like the one above becomes a rare gem with great value. However, one day, as someone looks through the digital archives of the family website, or my hardrive, they will look at this photo and wonder who on earth that was and why were they wearing those funny clothes. The photo will have lost its value. I know, because I have some old photos with people on them who are total strangers to me and certainly nobody in the future will know them either.

Nostalgia is in the eye of the beholder and is a fleeting thing.