the process of remembering: a photoblog by andrew huth

I suppose being at my grandparent’s 65th anniversary party has a way of causing me to become reflective of things past. While listening to various people get up and give speeches about my grandparents, I began to think back to all the different speeches our family has given to each other over the years.  I remember at my parent’s 25th anniversary party all of us children stood up and one by one read our prepared written commentary about our parents.  I recall that much of my speech was fairly silly, if not heartfelt, about how I loved my mother’s string beans and how I had the greatest dad in the whole world.  Although I still stand by these grandiose and childlike claims about my parents, I realize that my written expression as a child was surely lacking in eloquence and thoughtfulness.  These memories bring me back to this photo here.  My sister Shannon is now a mother and surely the years have taught her many things abstruse and sobering.  Yet I recall that my sister Shannon had a way with words for which time and maturity cannot take much credit for, for she seems to have possessed the gift of written eloquence at a young age.  Upon reflection now I am surprised that my sister would possess such a gift, as her verbal expressions were often brief, humorous, and wholly ordinary; she always did have a great sense of humor and carefreeness in dialog.  As I sat framing this picture and listening to a speech being given about my grandparents, I wondered what graceful strokes of the pen she would have made to lift up my grandparents on this momentous day in their lives.  I hope someday her son and I will find out.