Mark Bishop
Singing News Article
August 2006
I really enjoy going through old
photo albums. It's the sort of thing that we don't really slow
down for, but when a special occasion rolls around like a holiday
or a family get-together, it's a great way to bring back warm
memories. At our house we have stacks and stacks of photo albums,
boxes and envelopes, filled with pictures. We only go through them
a couple or three times a year. It always evokes a laugh or a
smile and sometime throughout the process, you'll hear "Look at
that hair!".
For me, it's a lot of fun when we go to my moms or Carolyn's moms
and see some old pictures from farther back. On Carolyn's side, I
get to catch a glimpse of what it might have been like growing up
in her family. She was raised back in the country with nine
sisters and three brothers. It took me years to learn them all,
their spouses and kids. Her grandparents were Walton's and oddly
enough, they owned a large piece of land with a log frame house on
"Walton's Mountain". There are some black and white pictures of
them as children on the farm. They have the Hollywood Walton's
beat when it comes to rugged mountain people.
The pictures in the family albums at my moms house aren't any
better. Highwater plaid pants, thick rimmed glasses... When my
kids start laughing at our pictures of us when we were young, I
just remind myself that if the Lord lets time stand, their kids
will be laughing at their pictures some day. I hope I'm still
around to laugh too.
Along with all the laughs that we enjoy from out-of-date clothing
and hair styles, there is always that moment or two when we run
across the pictures of a loved one who is no longer with us. There
is a moment when everyone smiles and the laughter turns more
gentle as some wonderful memory takes us back to that place in
time again. For a brief moment, we get to enjoy their company
again. My wife and I have such fond memories of my moms mom. Her
name was Della but we called her mamaw. As long as I can remember,
she had the disposition of a young, happy child. Whenever I think
of her, I smile a broad smile and whisper "I miss you mamaw".
The photo albums are filled with pictures of vacations. There are
pictures of weddings and birthday parties. There are pictures of
when the families would all gather at the grave-yard on decoration
day. On Carolyn's side, this was always a big reunion where aunts,
uncles, cousins and second-cousins would gather at the grave-yard
and have dinner on a big ol' wagon pulled up just for the
occasion. They had food and music. They took pictures and
celebrated life in a way that I'm sure their departed family
members were glad to be near.
I've seen a lot of candid pictures of family when nobody knows the
camera is around. These are some of my favorite. These are true
moments in time captured forever. They are pictures of people
talking to each other, each one with a plastic dixie-cup in hand
at some family get-together. In one picture, you could tell that
the kids were hot and sweaty from being outside playing. In one
picture, the look of surprise as someone opens a gift. The smiles
from the photograph are contagious. You're there again.
We always laugh when we see pictures of dad from back in his
"Sonny Bono" days. His haircut and moustache make him look like
Sonny Bono. It's neat to see him and mom before they were married
and when they were "courting". It's pure "Happy Days".
From time to time, someone will come up to me at a concert and
present an old album cover of our group. We looked so young... and
so skinny. All I can do is join in the laughter. They're already
laughing at us anyway... might as well join in. We were just a
bunch of hillbilly boys from Kentucky... who obviously got hung up
on the whole "Miami Vice" look. I was wearing tennis-shoes on our
first album cover. So much for a first impression.
Those old photo albums serve a useful purpose for you and I. They
connect us with our past. They allow us to connect others with our
past. My children see where they came from and the long chain of
family members that preceded them. They see their grandparents
when they were young and just starting out in life. The pictures
are a roadmap. They show us how we got here. They show us
overcoming some tough times. They show us that we can have a silly
side. They show us that is was a wonderful life after all. Is it
any wonder that when people are asked, "What is the first thing
you'd take if your house were on fire?", the answer is most
usually, "My pictures."
Like the old song says, I guess those memories really are
precious.
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