Life goes too fast.
As I hurtle through it at 100 miles an hour, it’s rare that I get a chance to sit back and actually remember stuff. You know the stuff I’m on about – the stuff you actually want to remember.
We’re approaching our first wedding anniversary and I truly can’t believe that amazing day was almost a year ago. Almost a year ago and I’m still yet to print any of the photographs, let alone buy photo frames for them.
Our memories are stored in a beautiful book that rarely gets opened. I want them on our walls, hung all over the place to remember every moment of the day that zoomed by at lightning speed.
It’s the same with our holidays, days out, afternoon walks and visits to see family. On each and every occasion I sit back and think, “Bottle this memory, THIS is what life is about.”
Then I take a shed load of photographs. And … nothing. They sit there on my phone, sometimes make it to my computer – and occasionally see the light of day on my blog. But they rarely make it anywhere else.
I love art. We have a huge Picasso print hanging on the wall at the top of our stairs. It was a 21st birthday present from my parents which I’ve always treasured. Frog points at it now and says, “Lady, reading book, boobies” whenever she goes down the stairs.
On our living room wall we have four paintings. Two were painted by my late grandmother and were given to me as presents by my parents – one for my birthday and one for the day Frog was born.
Another was bought by my parents-in-law on a wonderful day trip to Hebden Bridge and given to us as a wedding present, a way for us to keep the memory of that brilliant day.
And the fourth painting, this was a present painted by my gifted aunt, the artist Meredith Namsoo. It was another wedding present. It hangs on our wall above the sofa. And I love it.
Paintings are another way of storing memories and displaying them. They’re just as important to me as photographs. And as my budding artist paints yet another masterpiece, I’m left with the difficult decision of which pictures to keep and frame, and what to do with the others.
Photographs, paintings, toddler art… they’re all memories. I’m scared when I’m old I’ll lose the images in my head and have nothing to trigger them.
And THAT’S why I’m going to get off my backside and print some of those photographs. I’m going to frame the very best pieces of art created by my two year old. And the memories will be safe for a little while longer.
They’re too special to throw away.
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Disclosure: All opinions and views expressed here are my own. Please see my disclosure policy for more details.