So much is in your pictures

I was sitting here trying to figure out what I wanted to write about this week and lots of ideas danced in my head but none became a solid column. I sat at my new writing area looking at the pictures on the wall. Our daughter’s graduation picture, big smile, professional pose, beautiful girl. Our son with his hand held above his head, exhausted look on his face but victory in his eyes. A black and white group. One of Terry Sieker, in fire gear, leaning on truck, exhausted from fighting the senior manor fire. One of Frank Sieker, young faced, in fire gear, excitement in his eyes. One of the two together, Terry instructing Frank as they prepare to enter a burning building. Snapshots in a moment of time that will never be forgotten.

There are other pictures throughout the house. All tell a story. I sat and realized the devastation of a house fire that destroys everything you own, how many things can be recovered but these precious photos can never be duplicated.

I thought of the people I knew that have had one of these fires. My Aunt Karla had two. The Wybarks and Mike Lowery are the two recent ones in the area. The stories their pictures told disappearing in smoke as the fire burned. There are still memories, but the proof on paper is in ashes. Old pictures, and new ones become distant memories over time.

So why did I decide to write this column? I guess I just wanted to remind you to cherish the times you are having. Document your happy times and let them live around you.

I can remember my Grandpa Nessly, when he was living in assisted living in Wenatchee, had pictures hung up and down his hallway like a giant collage of memories. He would tell you about each picture as if it just happened yesterday. Sometimes he would get the names wrong, but he had nine kids and lots of grandkids and great-grand-kids. But the memory of the events stood strong. I can look at a picture taken when I was a small child and remember bits and pieces of that day, but without the picture to remind me I might let that memory slip away.

So, when you’re out boating on Lake Roosevelt for the first time or the 100th time, take pictures. When you go to the celebrations in Nespelem, take in a Raider basketball game or just go for a drive in the farmland, bring your camera. When you’re attending your reunion, daughter’s wedding, son’s wrestling tournament or just hanging out with family at home, cherish the time you have, enjoy the memories and capture a moment in time.

Tomorrow is a new day filled with new adventures and new experiences. But tomorrow is gone, we are unable to relive or do it over or make changes. So make an honest effort to make today as great as it can be and capture that joy in your child’s eye, the pride on your mother’s face, a serious person being a clown, the family pet or a neighbor’s hard work accomplished, and enjoy it all.

So maybe the real reason I am writing this is because my own memory has a malfunction in it now. The medication I take for my disease kind of screws with my memory. So, yes, pictures are important for me and I am sure they are for you too. Say Cheese.