Oct. 6, 2014

Photographs

by Dymitri Haraszewski (author's profile)

Transcription

Blog #6 (?)
Dymitri Haraszewski Blog #1660 9-23-14

Photographs [underlined]

I recently saw a news story about a lady who got her wedding pictures back 13 years after she thought they were lost forever in 9/11. She was so [underlined] happy, and the story was interesting enough to put it on the news, so it made me start thinking...people obviously [underlined] recognize the importance of photos of special life events. They treasure their own, and they cheer when others are reunited with theirs. Everybody understands, even if they've never given it a lot of thought, that having a picture of something is so, so much more than only having your memory of it. The picture keeps the memory alive, the moment real.

It makes me wonder why so many people are so blasé and dismissive, then, when it comes to making sure their friends and family who are stuck in cages have access to their [underlined] photos. I know that many people do [underlined] send prisoners photos, but so many do not, even when a prisoner (who is also a sibling or son or close friend), lets them know how much it means to him to get photos -memories- from the real world. There's no use pretending I'm not talking largely about my own experience here (or that I'm not a little bit bitter about it), but I know from the hundreds of others I've talked to here in the gulags that my experience isn't unusual. It's the norm. I realize that they often just don't understand the pain of this kind of living death-people value pictures of their "special" moments, but they've never experienced the loss unique to prisoners that makes EVERY moment special if it occurred outside the cage. People normally never think twice about daily events, because they'll be experiencing those same things, and new things, tomorrow, next week, and next year. It's hard to imagine "living" a life in which there are [underlined] no new memories, no experiences worth [underlined] thinking about ever again, ever. I don't expect non-prisoners to fully get it, but they should at least fully get that something beyond their experience (and nightmares) is happening to their loved ones-so send them those old photos. New ones too, but the old are special, they bring back to life moments your friends actually lived. A photo of a pet, or a house, or some boring thing you see every day...for a prisoner, if he also saw it in person, especially if he took [underlined] the photo, or is in it-not a studio portrait but a real-life scene he lived-you'll be shining a light back to him, brighter than you may ever imagine.
[End]

Favorite

Replies (1) Replies feed

Melanie Posted 9 years, 5 months ago. ✓ Mailed 9 years, 5 months ago   Favorite
I know you are wondering what your blog page looks like...at the top of the page is the title of your blog post, then your scanned handwritten post. After your post is transcribed, it is next on the page under your handwritten post. At the bottom of the page is a box for people to post replies.
This is what your transcribed post looks like...

Blog #6 (?)
Dymitri Haraszewski Blog #1660 9-23-14

Photographs [underlined]

I recently saw a news story about a lady who got her wedding pictures back 13 years after she thought they were lost forever in 9/11. She was so [underlined] happy, and the story was interesting enough to put it on the news, so it made me start thinking...people obviously [underlined] recognize the importance of photos of special life events. They treasure their own, and they cheer when others are reunited with theirs. Everybody understands, even if they've never given it a lot of thought, that having a picture of something is so, so much more than only having your memory of it. The picture keeps the memory alive, the moment real.

It makes me wonder why so many people are so blasé and dismissive, then, when it comes to making sure their friends and family who are stuck in cages have access to their [underlined] photos. I know that many people do [underlined] send prisoners photos, but so many do not, even when a prisoner (who is also a sibling or son or close friend), lets them know how much it means to him to get photos -memories- from the real world. There's no use pretending I'm not talking largely about my own experience here (or that I'm not a little bit bitter about it), but I know from the hundreds of others I've talked to here in the gulags that my experience isn't unusual. It's the norm. I realize that they often just don't understand the pain of this kind of living death-people value pictures of their "special" moments, but they've never experienced the loss unique to prisoners that makes EVERY moment special if it occurred outside the cage. People normally never think twice about daily events, because they'll be experiencing those same things, and new things, tomorrow, next week, and next year. It's hard to imagine "living" a life in which there are [underlined] no new memories, no experiences worth [underlined] thinking about ever again, ever. I don't expect non-prisoners to fully get it, but they should at least fully get that something beyond their experience (and nightmares) is happening to their loved ones-so send them those old photos. New ones too, but the old are special, they bring back to life moments your friends actually lived. A photo of a pet, or a house, or some boring thing you see every day...for a prisoner, if he also saw it in person, especially if he took [underlined] the photo, or is in it-not a studio portrait but a real-life scene he lived-you'll be shining a light back to him, brighter than you may ever imagine.
[End]

We will print and mail your reply by . Guidelines

Other posts by this author

Subscribe

Get notifications when new letters or replies are posted!

Posts by Dymitri Haraszewski: RSS email me
Comments on “Photographs”: RSS email me
Featured posts: RSS email me
All Between the Bars posts: RSS