Found Photos

I was searching for friends' pictures of Aix-en- Provence earlier this evening and I stumbled on a photo site I don't use any more. There, I found the Aix pictures I was looking for, but also several other on-line photo albums, including pictures taken at my aunt's memorial service and then her burial in May 2004. Took me back to what was a lovely celebration of a life of someone who had a profound impact on my own life.

I remember how beautifully Julie played "Danny Boy" and how it was the first time I realized what a passionate and emotional cellist she is. I remember laughing and crying all at once at the tender, funny memories different people shared about their friend, their mother, their sister-in-law (my dad), their aunt (me). Afterwards, at the reception, clusters of friends conversed, brought together because of loss, reconnecting in a new context.

My mother took most of these pictures, capturing the emotions of reunion and letting go. The first is of three sisters, a cousin, and a sister-in-law; the second is of the same group plus Lauren's husband and a long-time friend of ours. The third is of my mother and two of her remaining three sisters and fourth is the children of the cousins. The last photo is my cousin and her husband by the Baker River, a place where we spent hundreds of happy hours when we were kids. I was baptized in this river, too.