the process of remembering: a photoblog by andrew huth

Heading towards downtown Philly.

Rich driving us to the restaurant.

Allison is still a kid at 34 years of age.

An exercise that most city dwellers are often seen doing.

I couldn’t tell if we were in Philly or Antarctica.

The food was excellent.

No Dad, she isn’t 1 year old.

This past Thursday, my sister Allison turned 34. Having lived far away from her most of my adult life, I can hardly remember when I might have last celebrated a birthday with her. Without a doubt, living near her has been really great. On this birthday, Rich, my sis, Heather and I went out to a wonderful Italian restaurant in Philly called Gnocchi. For those unfamiliar with Italian food, Gnocchi is a type of potato dumplings. The restaurant has many other things to eat, but I guess they specialize in this type of food. The food was superb! I would recommend it to anyone traveling to or living in Philly. It has been a true blessing to have Rich and Allison as our guide in our new area as they (Rich in particular because he has lived here his whole life) know nearly ever inch of the city and all the great places to eat and visit, not to mention a plethora of traffic and parking tips. They, like us, love to go out and explore so it has been real fun to do that together from time to time. Birthdays make me reflective sometimes. I write this in the wake of a recent death in my extended family. As I watch my sister full of life and playful as a child in these photos I am warmed and filled with gladness that life can at times be so good that it can fill us with such zeal for it. The recent loss for the family reminds me once again the fragility of life and how quickly at times our light can be darkened. Life is often difficult and it is hard to find reasons or ability to walk the streets with the sort of smile my sister has in the above photo (for some the laugher and joy comes much harder for them than for others), but while we are still able, let’s eat, walk laughing, stick our tongue out, and blow out our birthday candles hoping that the light will be lit once again.

By the way, here are two other photos of the Philadelphia skyline by other photographers. A pretty full view of the skyline can be seen HERE. Cool aerial view HERE.