I was looking at the artist Sophie Blackall's Instagram account and clicked on one of her pictures. She drew an elephant (I love elephants) with the initials 'A.K.R.' and then I read the caption; it was about someone (I just breezed past the name) and somehow I had the impression that this person has passed away and Sophie did this in memory of this person. And the rest is history. And here I am, writing about this amazing thing I just experienced. By just going through an Instagram account.
The Instagram account belonged to Amy Krouse Rosenthal, a prolific author for children and adults. She was fighting cancer and lost her battle early this year. Two months before that, she started a little project of her own, to post a photo everyday of something she made or whatever that was on her mind that she wanted to talk about. She named it Project 1,2,3 and wanted to do it for 123 days. She stopped at Day 61.
After that, her daughter Paris decides to continue her mother's project all the way to Day 123, by sharing anything about her mother that was important to her. And through Paris did I learn the amazing character that is Amy K Rosenthal. Amy has created many precious memories for her children (2 boys and 1 girl); individually and as a unit. From what I read about her through the words of her daughter, Amy was a source of brightness and love to all. The little things and little practices that she comes up with - just amazes me! She has 3 children and somehow she managed to have a special bond with each of them individually. The kind of stories Amy's daughter shares, it's heart-wrenching. It's really amazing to know how your little gestures of love can change or shape someone's way of life.
It just made me realize how important it is for us to record little moments because it may seem like nothing much now, but years later these little things are what we will hold on to, what we will look for, just for the sake of looking back.
Joel is going to be 3 in September and already I'm finding myself trying to look back, trying to remember how it was when he was just one. There are so many things he did and said (only a handful of words or syllables) at that age that I can't recall already, because I didn't always write in my journal or take a photo. And it's quite sad because when he grows up, he won't remember all of this, at least the first 5 years, and it's up to me to 'record' these memories for him to look back upon when he's older.
Amy Krouse Rosenthal has definitely inspired me to become a better person. I can't get over all the little things she did for her family, especially about leaving little notes and poems around the house for them to find and read and ponder over. I think in order to have done that, one must already be firm with who they are and what their purpose is on earth. Amy knew what she wanted to do and she did exactly that and that's why she led a life full of love and happiness all around her.
x,
D
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