How could I possibly have known.
That is what I said tonight.

I’ve decided to revisit some of my old images for a little while.  At least from time to time.  I literally have boxes of Hard Drives, in my office, filled with tens of thousands of images I have taken in recent history.

Many of those, I will probably never look at again.  My method for organizing them comes down to one line:  “Oh.  I’ll get to that later.”  Sure, I have them all backed up.  More than once.   But there is no rhyme or reason to them, mostly.

This evening, as I began to explore a random hard drive, I found this photo.  Happenstance.   And when you find a photo, you begin to find memories.  Like it, or not.

Two years ago, this month actually, we took a trip to Hawaii for Mary’s 60th birthday.  The family went.  It was joyous. …. a tremendous trip. We had so much fun.  Great company, great weather, food, and adventure.  So. I saw this photo and remembered the exact day…. walking on the beach with Levi.  I stopped and shot this photo of a shell… because I thought it looked like a face.  He concurred.

A few minutes later, my phone rang, and it was my brother.  He called to tell me Dad wasn’t feeling well, but that everything was okay.  Dad had recently had a bout with pneumonia, and was, once again, having a low period.  At 90 years old, he never been seriously sick before.

I asked if I should come home, and Jerry said, no way, no how.  All was okay.  So we stayed the remaining 4 days of the trip.  I went back to shooting on the beach.  And there I was…. never imagining that in 2 months… my Dad would be dead.

Yes, we just don’t know the things we don’t know.  I had written something completely different tonight about acceptance of being in the moment … until I found this photo.  But that is what my photo told me once again.

It reminded me to remember…. just how important it is to cherish the moment we are in…. whether it is on a beach in Hawaii, or spending the night in a dark hospital room … holding my Dad’s hand.

I am not sure how many more of my old photos I want to revisit.  I am not so sure at all.