Our Year in Videos and Pictures
Thanks mom and Mira for most of the pictures and videos. Here is a fun story…
The day after Thanksgiving I lost 23000+ pictures and 4000+ videos from the last 5 years. All my babies first smiles, crawls, steps, and words were swallowed up in the abyss where all the deleted electronic files live. My devastation was the kind where I would cry instantly at any conception of a thought of a past recorded memory. I thought of my mother and how she has 0 videos of me and maybe one picture a year when I was a baby and a toddler. In contrast, my sister’s photo album is a different story. She had monthly pictures taken before it was à la mode. That was such a rare thing to do in the early 80s in Albania. My long-suffering parents waited for 7 long years for my sister to be born. She was the rainbow baby; I was the second baby. When I was little, I used to be upset I didn’t have as many pictures as Mira. I even scribbled and x-ed her out on a few pictures. I’ve been sorry since my preteen years. Now that I have more than one child I finally get it mom. So, when I lost my pictures, I told my mom and sister and asked them to send me anything they may have. A couple of days later, while the wound of my loss was still fresh, I was talking with mom and I teared up again about what had happened. She looked at me like only a tender mother can and asked me to check my phone. I could not believe the tender mercy that had happened overnight and why I hadn’t noticed. I do not believe in coincidences. I was meant to have this moment with my mother. I downloaded from Viber some 500 files; a mix of videos and pictures through the years only a mother and grandmother would have saved on her phone. And only my sister would know how to download them and send them to me. I saw God’s hand in this experience! He’s always in the picture. I believe in a God that hugs us through thoughtful and loving people. I realized I still need my mother even though she lives half the world away, and my sister continues to be a rainbow. Ancient mythologies of the world saw the rainbow as a bridge to connect heaven and earth and Mira was that for me and mom.
P.S. I have yet to get the pictures and videos my mother-in-law has and I know she has many. If any of you have a minute or two, please do flood me with any pictures you may have. I’d be forever grateful!
The Adventures of Tom and Alba 