Cute picture, what's the story?

It's been a beautiful Memorial Day weekend so far, in Forest Grove, OR, and this seems like the right picture to feature as we honor all the servicemen and women who are no longer living.  The picture seems obvious, but wouldn't it be nice to know the backstory?

 

I'd like to know the backstory, and guess what? 

That's my firstborn! 

He'll be 25 in a few weeks, and I just found this picture in a box of old miscellaneous photos. 

I took the picture so long ago, that I can't remember what led to it.

Oh, there are clues to the backstory:

• The house tells me where we were living in Columbus, OH, and that narrows his age down to two or three. 
• He's holding a flag and wearing red and white.  Maybe we went to a parade.
• He looks like he's saluting...or shielding his eyes.  But he is looking up at the flag...isn't he?
• It's probably the fourth of July because it looks so warm.  But in Ohio, it could be the end of May...or even June 14, Flag Day.
• Where's evidence of other people?  If he was two, then his sister was a newborn, and wouldn't be mobile.  If she was one, she would have been hot on his heels and wobbly!  This may have been a spontaneous moment, or he may have been showing Mommy, Daddy, Gramma and PawPaw how to salute the flag.

Does it matter?  Maybe not, but it can be, at best, boring to keep making the same observation through a stack of pictures--"Awwwww, so cute...", and at worst, frustrating to be the mom, for heaven's sake, unable to recall a son's special action or the day that spawned such a touching picture.

"Pictures without stories are memories lost" ~ Sharon Murdoch, Heritage Makers founder

I'm living proof of that.  

But I'm doing something about that in my household...and you can too.

Pictures are good.  They capture a moment; freeze an image in time.  But not only can the memory be lost, it can be reconstructed...inaccurately...to mythic proportions, (which I was tempted to do.) 

Pictures + Story are better.  Story doesn't just explain a long forgotten picture, but it can help us relive a whole event, day, even season.

P and S is best!

We can all avoid this kind of sad situation by jotting down the events that trigger our enthusiasm to preserve an image.

One idea is to get a notebook or a memo pad and literally jot down just a few details, names, and the date as you snap a set of pics.  Then include your notes or an expanded write-up in your scrapbook, brag book, or label (on the computer).  Here's one example of a journal created just for the purpose of remembering to tell family stories.

However you do it, don't get caught 24 years later with a great picture to show your child and no related story to share.  P + S is best!

~Donna