Day 26

Storms rolled through this evening bringing heavy rains and gusts strong enough to batter the neighbor’s wind chimes. I sat on the couch with my daughter in one arm and decided to get a bit nostalgic. I opened the file folder on my laptop that contains hundreds (maybe thousands) of photographs that my mom digitally scanned and saved. Unsurprisingly, I am the main character in many of these photos.

I started with a subfolder labeled as my birth. I’ve seen many of these photos before, but I previously never spent longer than a second on them as I punched the arrow key advancing through them rapidly. But looking at them this time was a bit different. I now have a perspective that I lacked until I experienced the birth of a child firsthand. I now stop at the photos of my mom staring at me as I’m swaddled for the first time in the hospital blankets and I recognize the emotion on her face. It’s a feeling of wonder, awe, and of course love.

Other digital folders are filled with images from first bath times, messy meals in high chairs, outdoor activities, and many other average everyday moments. But what makes the moments special to me as I look at them is who I shared them with. This includes many people who have long since been gone from the physical world from grandparents, aunts, and uncles, to family friends. It’s really special to see them engaging with me and experiencing life together.

Well, that’s my short trip down memory lane.

So long for now.

Felix