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Old family photos do that for me too — make me think of both the brevity of life and the beauty it is just to have lived. To see the arc of those who have gone

Old family photos do that for me too — make me think of both the brevity of life and the beauty it is just to have lived. To see the arc of those who have gone before you should be a sobering thought, but I also find a kind of comfort in a humbleness of knowing I too am just like them as they once were like I am now. (In fact, something similar was a common headstone epitaph that a relative of mine who died over 100 years ago has on his own headstone.) I wrote a bit about it here: https://engineersneedart.com/blog/camera/camera.html https://engineersneedart.com/blog/camera/camera.html

stuartjohnson12 1y ago
I was recently privileged to see video of my long-deceased grandfather who passed away when I was a toddler as a little boy, laughing and swimming in the Thames with my great grandfather and great great grandfather. What a strange thing that is. It felt very familiar but surreal at the same time. I wondered what the moment would be like if I could go back to that moment and tell that 10 year old boy that I'm his grandchild and that there was an entire lifetime of adventure, love, age, and ill health ahead of him, and that one day he'd only exist to me and the world in the stories of his temperament. And for millions of years, there are similar men. The 19th century provides me with some portraits from archives. The 18th and 17th century has just names. I will blow away too in time, and my grandchildren can watch the lego engineering youtube videos I uploaded to Youtube when I was 9, and wonder what it would be like to meet me, too. Sobering.
- JKCalhoun 1y ago
  > if I could go back to that moment and tell that 10 year old boy that I'm his grandchild and that there was an entire lifetime of adventure, love, age, and ill health ahead of him And you can't of course. But the takeaway is to tell yourself that instead. Memento Vivere.
SirFatty 1y ago
Great read, I appreciate the amount of effort it took. Thanks! (someday I'll build my own SystemSix).

stuartjohnson12 1y ago

I was recently privileged to see video of my long-deceased grandfather who passed away when I was a toddler as a little boy, laughing and swimming in the Thames with my great grandfather and great great grandfather. What a strange thing that is. It felt very familiar but surreal at the same time. I wondered what the moment would be like if I could go back to that moment and tell that 10 year old boy that I'm his grandchild and that there was an entire lifetime of adventure, love, age, and ill health ahead of him, and that one day he'd only exist to me and the world in the stories of his temperament. And for millions of years, there are similar men. The 19th century provides me with some portraits from archives. The 18th and 17th century has just names. I will blow away too in time, and my grandchildren can watch the lego engineering youtube videos I uploaded to Youtube when I was 9, and wonder what it would be like to meet me, too. Sobering.

JKCalhoun 1y ago
> if I could go back to that moment and tell that 10 year old boy that I'm his grandchild and that there was an entire lifetime of adventure, love, age, and ill health ahead of him And you can't of course. But the takeaway is to tell yourself that instead. Memento Vivere.

SirFatty 1y ago

Great read, I appreciate the amount of effort it took. Thanks! (someday I'll build my own SystemSix).