Take A Closer Look

 


Everybody knows how old photos can evoke memories—even when you marry two of them together with artificial intelligence.

I learned this firsthand when I used ChatGPT to have some fun with a couple of photographs. It was just a lark. I took a recent picture of me and paired it with a picture from my college days.

Once I saw it, I decided with a minor tweak, it was the perfect photo to use to promote my new book, Some Things Are Worth Remembering. Once again, I used AI—this time to put a copy of my book in my hands. Now it seemed like the perfect vehicle to let y’all know the book was ready.

My friends saw it and shook their heads. My daughter-in-law couldn’t believe that the long-haired, redheaded guy in the picture was the same person sitting across from her.

Then I looked at the picture a little closer. And suddenly, I understood that its meaning was far deeper than I had imagined. It dawned on me that the photo was a microcosm of the way I felt writing this book.

On the right side, there’s a contented old man who has just revisited a bushel full of memories that occurred more than a half-century ago. Sadly, that reminds me that I have lived on this earth for a while.

When the nurse asks for my birthday and I say, “11-28-1953,” I cringe a little. After all, I was born when the Korean War had just ended, for goodness’ sake. I went to schools that weren’t even integrated until my next-to-last year in high school.

These events seem like they happened a lifetime ago -  because they almost did.

I’m also beginning to lose friends I grew up with, people I wrote about, with alarming regularity. About a half-dozen of the people mentioned in my book are no longer with us—a sobering reminder of my own mortality. Nobody gets out alive.

On the left side of the photo, is a young college kid, complete with the standard look of mischief most of them wear. It appears he just did something and got away with it.

Seeing him once again made me feel young.

When I tapped into those deep recesses of memory to write stories about these people, places and things, I  began to feel those long-ago feelings—feelings that had been stored away for years, just waiting for me to find them once again, pull them out, and put them on paper for you to read.

There was excitement, curiosity, joy and pain.

I got to talk with old friends and revisit many of the moments we shared together. I got to feel those feelings again.  For a few moments it seemed like a had taken a big drink from the Fountain of Youth.

And so, when you look at the picture, stop for a moment and take time to look beyond the images. Don’t think about how young I was then and how old I am now. Look at it another way.

I’m the same person.


To get an autographed, presale copy, of Some Things Are Worth Remembering, use the link below:

https://localbooknook.com/product/some-things-are-worth-remembering/

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