One day I was talking with my sister-in-law about a violin and music that was prominently positioned on a stand in their living room. I inquired as to its owner and the story behind it.
"The violin? she asked. "OK. Well, I started playing in fourth grade when I was in our lived in Athens, Georgia. I had private lessons and then in junior high, I played in the orchestra. By then we had moved to California, and I played at Arcadia 1st Avenue Junior High. Then I moved to Charter Oak, and they didn’t have an orchestra. So I interviewed for the San Gabriel Valley Junior symphony orchestra and was excepted. I played there until I went to Cal poly college." She said the music was a song her grandfather wrote which made the story even more tender. Playing the violin was a passion of her youth and I had no idea. Her story prompted my brother to bring out a shoe box filled with photos. Each photo (I had never seen them before) had a name and a story to it. The evening was filled with memories and stories I was hearing for the first time.
How many stories get lost or are never shared? How much of someone's life dies without anyone ever knowing? We can visit with someone for decades and never know them beyond the surface. How many times do we take a photo on our phones and never go back to review them? I must have several thousand photos over the many years I've collected, and if it were not for this blog, no one would know they exist. We journey to far off lands, visit strangers who become close friends, and each memory is captured in a photo and never shared. I recommend you review the photos you have and print out some to share. Create a photo album, but don’t forget to write the story behind the photo. A beautiful sunset means so much more when you say why it was important to you and where you were when you took the picture. Then make a point to share it with loved ones. The face of a newborn, a baby’s first steps, your first car, your first love, and your first home will be viewed decades later when you can’t remember why, where, or what about it made it special.
When you share the tender moments of your past,
you create tender moments in the present.