I have always been fond of photos. Recently though, with over 5,300 photos sitting on my laptop, I have pondered the question as to where my obsession came from.
It all leads back to my Grandpa. Not him specifically, but when I was young, I remember him being really sick. My mother took photos of us whenever we were together. She said that they would help us remember the good times later. I didn't really understand, confused if she was telling me I would forget, or even why I would have to remember if good times kept coming. Now that my Grandpa is gone, and has been for over half of my life, I know what my mom meant. Whenever I am at home, I go digging through boxes of developed photos shoved in the closet under the stairs. Apparently my family doesn't have time to dig up old photos, but I guess my breaks are the time I try to do so. Looking at photos of me and Grandpa does bring up great times that I have almost forgotten about. I remember the days when I would run back home upset, because Grandpa beat me ten times in a row at rummy (our traditional card game.) I remember the days at my grandparents' cabin, sitting around the fire trying to make the perfect marshmallow.
See these photos are what remind me of these memories and bring them back to life. Without the photos, I would have lost touch with all of these good times. I think that's my fear. If I don't have photo evidence of something, my brain will forget. And so I make sure I have enough photos of everything. My camera comes everywhere with me, because you never know when a moment will appear and it just can't be described by words alone. I will always have my camera by my side. Its a true photographic memory.
When I am older and my life has changed, I will have photos to remind me about the important things. Actually, I will have photos to remind me of the stupid irrelevant things in my life as well. Like a paper hat that amused me and some friends for a day and proof that I brought notes home with me during a break to assure a friend they were on my mind. There are pictures of facial expressions while eating sour candies, and devoted teachers painting nails during spirit week. These moments represent the times in my life I think are worth remembering. And trust me, there's a lot of them. I never second guess myself on whether to take a photo or not, because I would rather have the photo than regret taking it.