Box of them

I talked to my dad on Father’s Day. During the call he informed me he was sending me a large collection of pictures he has of me. I guess he came across the collection and thought I would want them. I said sure. The box arrived yesterday. Inside were dozens upon dozens of pictures, mostly from my childhood, some of which I never saw before. There were pictures of me and my first junior high love interest, my first girlfriend, and my first wife, none of whom have I thought about it in a very long time. The pictures illustrated the various stages of my childhood where I went from being a pretty cute kid to an awkward and downright weird looking teenager.

Of course flipping through them fires off memories of when these photos were taken. It’s a bit surreal in some ways mentally retracing the twisting path you followed to get to where you are at this current time and place. I stored the photos in a box that already has a ton of photos that I have not touched in ages. Maybe some day I will, maybe somebody else will, who knows.

I talked to my brother yesterday for his 56th birthday. It has been awhile since we caught up. He has a myriad of aches and pains as I do but to a more serious degree. He already has had a hip replacement and has knee problems. Like me he has had his knees scoped, each knee once. I had the same knee scoped twice. After his second knee was done he did not get any sort of significant relief which can be an issue with scoping. To me it’s sort of a crap shoot if it is effective or not depending on how scar tissue forms. He also has back pain. He has been relying on cortisone shots to get by which is not a great solution. Getting old sucks.