Whenever I thought of the word ‘family’, I’d still put the idea in a larger context. Say, me and my side of the family or me being a new addition to N’s big kinship. But as for the two of us, we’d always be a couple. Recently, however, a friend asked me if I was coming over to his place again “as a family.” That sounded delightfully strange because why would he want my whole family to hang out with him? “Aren’t you and your husband a family?” he stood corrected. Why, of course. It only occurred to me that a family can be as little as the two of us, plus our plump cat Charlie.
Speaking of family, big or small, I remember how much I loved going to my grandma’s place because it felt homely with all the family photographs displayed in her living room. She had photographs of all of us grandchildren as babies and tots as well as graduation photographs of my mom, cousin and I. In her bedroom, you’d find older photographs of her own children in the ‘60s (including a studio portrait of my mom as a mere newborn) and a couple more with her own mother. I could sense what my grandma treasured most right away, and how important family means to her.
When I visited my in-laws’ home for the first time, I had the most fun browsing their stairwell and seeing how N and his four siblings slowly grew up, with each step, into becoming who they are today. I discovered how N used to be bony as a boy but grew up into an attractive, baby-faced teenager with squinty eyes (according to his mom, that was when he had the most girls swooning for him, ha!). Every single moment— weddings, birthdays, Eid, vacations— were captured and neatly arranged in their mini ‘gallery’ of sorts.
Photographs used to be tangible keepsakes, something for us to hang onto and preserve. There’s always warmth in a home that’s filled with personal pictures that highlight the best, unforgettable moments. It’s a wondrous thing to be able to learn some personal history through a collection of family photographs. All the happy moments taken bring a cozy feeling of togetherness. Sure, hanging art is impressive but nothing is homier than a few favorite shots of our family. At least that's what I think.
So a few weekends back, we decided to make our space more intimate with our own family pictures. We shared so many adventures in the past but we rarely looked back at those moments unless we took the time to sort through the digital files stashed in the depths of our hard drives. For a change, N bought this set of multiple frames and I took the time to print our vacation and wedding photographs in black and white. I’d always like seeing things that seem to have lived a hundred years old so such prints were meant to resemble that way. Now these photographs hang right on our bedroom wall as a reminder of all the good times we had together.
One day, who knows, this tiny unit of ours might grow and we’d have to make room for more photographs. But for now it’s so good to see how I have N as my partner, my next of kin and a member of my family. Well, and Charlie too.
