Just A Moment — All Pints Considered

“It’s great to record things now because in 20 to 30 years it could all be gone,” my friend’s dad and photographer, Eric Luke, answered to the audience at Moments in Time, a live podcast interview we were attending 2 weeks ago. These words really stood out to me. I immediately wrote them down as countless iconic photos shown behind him on screen. Photos like a rough and weathered old man listening to a handheld radio with a coat hanger antenna, the controversial former Taoiseach Charlie Haughey wielding a shotgun to start the Dingle Regatta, Bob Marley during his only concert in Dublin, the funeral of Mother Theresa, and the death bed of Francis Stuart. These were not only moments in time but phases of human life with interesting and elaborate stories behind them that Eric spoke about in glorious detail.

These are the moments in time that we need to embrace but that we often pass without batting an eyelid. These are the moments in time that we need to relish and learn from. I began to think of the monumental moments throughout my life that I captured either on film, on paper, or through memory. They remain ingrained in my mind for one reason or another and I wanted to share just a few.

One of my earliest memories I have were mornings in my family home on the Northside of Chicago. I think I was around 5 years old and I remember waking up each morning and immediately running into my parent’s room searching for my mom who was on her morning walk. I believe I knew where she was but it didn’t stop me from sprinting into my older sister’s room to wake her up and ask, “Where’s mom!?” She reassured me, like she did every morning, that mom was walking and would be home soon. My anxiety levels would lessen and I would go to my room to grab my blanket, drag it back to my sister’s room, and proceed to drift back to sleep on the floor until mom’s return. Although uneventful to others, these are the times that defined my adolescence that I was so lucky to have. I had a home, a mother who was gone but I knew would return, and a loving family that surrounded me.

I’ve brought this up many times before but I had the chance to study in Rome, Italy during the beginning of 2009. I think that semester was the most transformative time of my life to date. I started to really stop, take in, and appreciate all that I was seeing and experiencing. I had preconceived notions of people and places that were crushed during those 6 months and I am truly a better person for it. Love was a resounding theme of my time spent in Rome and throughout my travels those 6 months. I was young, only 21 years old, and opened myself up to all the feels that I could handle, which seemed endless at the time. I wrote in my journal almost every day and took pictures on the digital camera my sister bought for me just so I would never forget those moments because I knew that many years later I would desperate to relive them. I find myself flipping back to journal excerpts like this one from time to time:

10/2/09

…The world is so different yet you can find so many similarities. Also, through this experience, I have learned how to accept all people no matter how different they are from myself. I am still searching for a lot of answers and I am having a great time doing it. I should find a way to make myself feel like this the rest of my life…

I go on to talk about love interests and life but that is a post in and of itself that I’ll save for a rainy day.

My dad died 6 years ago this April and the memories of his life, his suffering, and his death will stay with me the rest of my life. I remember when I was working at 111 East Wacker taking the Purple Line from the Loop to Evanston Hospital daily to visit him when he was moved into palliative care. Reality hit for me at that time because I knew that the end was in sight. I would take that silent journey watching the L empty as we got further and further away from the city. Thoughts would race through my mind and my eyes would often well up with tears as I would try to preoccupy my racing mind watching the familiar scenes passing by through the train window. This was my alone time between the stresses of work and the harsh reality that awaited me. It was time that I cherished even though the memories are sombre.

It is so important to capture these moments in our lives any way we can and share them with the world because even if one person relates or learns from it, you’ve made a connection. It’s reassuring hearing that others have been through the same highs and lows as me and have come out the other end wiser. It builds confidence. Time is fleeting so we must do our best to get the most out of this life and all it throws at us. We must appreciate and learn from the good as well as the bad so that we can teach and comfort those who have yet to experience the same things we have. Don’t let these moments pass you by.