One of our dearest friends, Terry passed away last year in Illinois. It was an absolute shock! She and her husband, Jim were surrogate auntie and uncle to our two children, Tiffany and Keola since our own families were all in Hawaii.
Jim was Art's closest friend after meeting each other at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago where they worked. Whenever we needed help in anything, Jim was there. Terry took Tiffany for her first beauty shop expedition where she got her first professional haircut. The photo above is when Jim and Terry took us for a sail on Lake Michigan. You can see Chicago in the background.
We got a surprise package from Jim a couple of weeks ago. It was filled with lots of photos that Terry had taken of the kids. I imagine Jim is downsizing from their large home now.
They were photos Terry took of fun moments in our lives... in our children's lives. What really hit me was that the photos were not posed.
Right: Yes, I have a few (very few) photos I took of natural moments of Tif and Keola when they were little... but very few.
I wonder if Tif wanted a sister since she used to dress Keola in her clothes.
So these photos from Jim really hit me.
The ones on the left are what came. They were pretty yellowed with age. So I scanned them and then put them through PhotoShop.
It really captures how Tif and Keola have had this special bond since they were very, very little and it warmed my heart.
We're missing Terry now... and we'll see Jim when we return to Chicago to visit Tiffany and family in fall.
I texted Jim right away, thanking him for this gift of the past and all they did for us then.
POSTSCRIPT:
And those two kids? Here they are again several decades later.
This photo was taken during a family trip to Japan.
I like candids and just posted some today but of old men. :)
ReplyDeleteGood job in photoshopping the yellow out.
When you write Terry and Terry was a she, a vague picture of a Terry tried to revel itself in my brain. She was a student, but since I’ve taught thousands of kids, it was a pretty vague picture.
What a special gift. You did a great job of making them look fresh. Old friends are gold!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Betty. I agree with you 100% about old friends who are actually forever friends.
DeleteSo sorry you lost your friend last year. The surprise photos were nice to receive! Such cute little kids. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda. I'm losing far too many friends right now. I remember mom saying the same thing a long time ago and I now know what she was feeling.
DeleteA gift of precious memories. So sorry you lost such a special friend.
ReplyDeletePrecious photographs and memories. It's wonderful what we can do with old photographs to make them fresh and bright again.
ReplyDeleteGoing through old photos, I've found and emailed off quite a few to those in them and have received similar ones too. It is always interesting to see me or my family through someone else's lens.
ReplyDeleteSorry about Terry. Lovely look back through Jim's photos.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful gift, seeing these photos of your sweet children when they were so little. So sorry of the loss of your dear friend.
ReplyDeleteI remember you telling us of Terry's passing and I was/am so very sorry for Jim and for you all who loved her. What precious memories these photos are. They do show the closeness of your grown-up children now, and that's a lovely one of them together. Precious memories of times together Kay, thank you so much for sharing them.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! You remember than blog post? I'm so touched, Denise. I'd forgotten I'd written it. My memory is really going. I went back to look and wow! It's so awful to lose so many good friends.... sigh....
DeleteI'm srory for your loss. I think those two little kids of yours must have had lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteWhat a treasure! You and Art must have spent a sweet afternoon looking through those memories.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful gift! Those memories are so precious, and as we know, very fleeting.
ReplyDeleteTerrific memories!
ReplyDelete