An 80th Birthday
My Grandfather recently passed away and it’s taken some time to let that settle in to reality. It wasn’t unexpected necessarily. He was 82 years old, a very long life, but no matter how long a life someone’s absence always leaves a hole in the community of people who loved them.
I hadn’t seen my Grampy since his 80th birthday party. My whole family flew into Marco Island (where he lived full time) to celebrate together for the first time in a long time. It was special, my family lives on the East Coast so I don’t get the opportunity to see them all that often and everyone on vacation together is a different feeling than when I come home and everyone else still has to go to work.
The thing that stands out to me most from that celebration though was a slideshow movie that the family put together. Photos from all parts of the family through every time frame of his life. The lights were dimmed and everyone was glued to the screen laughing, crying, reminiscing. I turned my camera to Grampy—to this whole group of people who traveled from all over the east coast to see him and celebrate him. I watched his face as each slide passed, memories I’m sure he hadn’t thought about in some time.
I realized his experience was one that I couldn’t quite grasp yet. I’ve had 30 years of memories so far, the first 6 or so being very fragmented or non-existent. I think about all the people I’ve met, places I’ve been, experiences I’ve had, losses, wins, everything in 30 years. Now more than double that in your mind. What is it like to hold 80 years of living in your memories? Do the memories start to line-up on a sliding scale—potency, chronologically, relevancy? Do they only come back when you’re presented with photos or can you hold the memories you love through recall?
I imagine it’s different for everyone. But I suppose the thing I’m trying to get across is that my biggest hope in life is to sit down at my own 80th birthday party and relive a life well spent. One filled with memories that make me laugh, filled with people who make me cry with happiness, filled with experiences that are diverse and rich and make me feel full.