Before my Father, and subsequently my Mother, passed, she gave me what old photos she had saved, many were just badly done, out of focus or damaged in some way .. yet still, a tiny slice of Time, captured in a fleeting moment ..
The Modern Folks of today are photographed by their parents / relatives from Birth on, quite heavily .. People love to post the photos on the various Social Media, chronicling sometimes almost a daily progression .. I suppose it could be considered a blessing that Modern Generations are so well documented .. the advent of the Digital Camera and especially the Smart Phone gave rise to what habits Society has these days ..
I think, the farther in Time you go back, for some of us, the scarcer these bits of Time become .. the older you are, the more precious the bits become, IOW .. some likely have little to no Photographic History .. so that makes what we do have, just that much more important, at least to us .. and, hopefully, those that we share our lives with .. Because a photograph is an Historical Document ..
I'm quite thankful for what I have in my small stash .. I know my Parents touched these bits of paper, so it's almost like a connection when I pick one up and look at it, or run my fingers across the surface, imagining .. there are only a few, yet they mean so much ..
The photos my Parents passed along initially just ended up in a box .. until one day, I decided to somehow attempt to chronicle my life .. yes, I know that may sound pretentious, but it was not intended to be ..
When people I know pass, and I attend a layout / visitation, in most cases, the Family has had the Funeral Home do a commemorative video of sorts, that loops
thru during the visitation hours .. sometimes, these are quite well done, other times, if the person passed unexpectedly, they can be brief with canned music just based on what the Family can quickly come up with ..
As I worked thru my Photographic Stash, including film negatives and slides, I decided to make my own Funeral commemorative video, and before I finish it, I will add some sort of vocal narrative to the beginning, and finish it off with a couple of my favorite songs, either actual songs I love, or if I'm really being vane, a few that I myself recorded ..
At the end of it all, it won't really matter all that much in the grand scheme of things .. after all, I'll be gone .. the video may play to an empty hall, for all I will know .. my wishes do not include a layout, just a simple display of the cremation urn and enough money set aside so that any that do attend, will be treated to a nice celebratory Party ..
At the end of it all, what we have left are these "faded Photographs, covered now with Lines and Creases" and the Memories left in those we leave behind .. so cherish that and make good memories, not necessarily for yourself, but for those around you ..
And, lastly, if I have not said it lately, thanks to all of you for putting up with the ramblings and rants of a old man ..
Carpe Diem ..
Thank you, however to be honest - pictures can be very deceiving, especially since they only represent a specific moment of time (one of the reason I posted those) . . . Even before those pictures were taken Family "Life" was changing . . . BTW: I learned early that it is always better to put on a happy face for posterity . . . HEY - Gotta Look "GOOD" for all occasions, even if "You" don't feel like it - Ya' know . . . Just Sayin' . . . 
