We live by associations and connections. One of the ways of staying connected to loved ones, particularly if they have died or are absent from our day to day lives, is through pictures and objects connected with them.
On our piano are photographs of our children and grandchildren. Many of them capture them frozen in a moment of time in a school photograph. A glance at them evokes happy thoughts and memories and uplifts the spirit.
Yet, in a way such photographs are out of date. The children, like us, have moved on. Yes, it’s good to enjoy a smile and bathe in the warmth of past associations and loving connections. Objects from the past – photographs, pictures, furniture, books and so on – all have their associations. And we can become very attached to them.
Back in the 1950s my Uncle Ewart and his business partner Billy Maiden, had a very successful garage and haulage company in the Midlands. They did well and were able to live very comfortably. Billy had been brought up in a small, back street terrace. After his parents’ death, he and his family were clearing the house and they fell out over it. All over who should inherit the kitchen table and chairs. A few sticks of furniture, as my Grandfather called them.
Sometimes we are not able to let go, to move on. Sometimes we forget that we are “passing through” and, as Ram Dass says, “Just walking each other home.”