My Dad's Album

This year was my dad's 20th anniversary.

I'm pretty bummed out that I couldn't go back to Japan to visit my family cemetery this year. I visit there with my aunt (my dad's sister) every year and it has been our tradition. We go there, say hi to my grandparents and my dad, and go have a nice lunch afterward. It would have been nice to go there for my dad's anniversary... boo.

My dad had cancer but didn't know about it until the very end of it. When we found out, it was too late and he had a month after the diagnose. I think he was extremely lucky that he didn't know anything about it. He didn't suffer, he didn't have to quit anything he liked like drinking and smoking, he didn't have to worry and spent sleepless nights. By the time he felt "something wrong", the cancer was all over his body and the doctor was surprised that he didn't feel any pain. He was 51 when he passed.

He was a funny guy. That's what I remembered about him the most. Because of his very invasive type of cancer, I didn't have to see him suffer. I know that he didn't want to make anybody feel sorry for him, especially his kids, so I consider myself lucky, too. My memory of him wasn't destroyed by cancer.

After he passed my grandpa made an album of "Memories of Hideo". It had hundreds of his photos from when he was a baby up to his last trip to a hot spring. Now I'm a parent, I wonder what my grandpa thought while he was making the album. All of the photos that he took were the only thing he had left of his son. I think my grandma and my mom couldn't look at the album for a very long time. It made them "too sad" they said. I loved it. I loved everything about it. How it was laid out to how old printing was so awesome. I could see my dad's history in one folder. It was kept under their coffee table so I probably looked at it more than a thousand times. I even sneaked some photos from the album... and here're those photos I stole. The last 2 photos were taken by me. Those are the ones I kept when I left Japan. These are my favorites. I think you can tell how my parents were from these photos.

I know I say I'm too into family photography a lot, but this is THE REASON. The family photos actually saved my family in hard times. I saw it with my own eyes. Those photos still make ME feel happy. Those are my treasures. I can't thank my grandpa enough for capturing and saving all these moments that I'd have never got to see if he didn't take photos of. Thank you, grandpa!!!

A little confession... I was totally ok looking at my dad's album but I couldn't look at his video for 10 years (my grandpa had a bunch of videos, too). It was too much for me. So, for any of the family videographers out there, you guys are giving another level of meaning to saving family history.