Ferocious Fox #8

All of my colleagues have pictures of people in their cubicles. The average wedding photo, the kids, even the family dog, are all displayed with pride. I have this. Not because it is a particularity interesting photo, but because he took it.

There are people who are great at taking pictures of themselves. You know the ones, they always have a camera in tow and have learned how to pose so as to always look good. We are not these people. I have hundreds of wonderful memories of our years together but not a single photo of the two of us.

It used to bother me. I would go to the cubicle to my right and see the pictures of a woman holding a man and be jealous. Over the years the men in her photos would change. One day I realized people keep photos to remember moments. She needed the photos to remember the men and the brief moments they filled her life.

I didn't need photos to remember him. Without effort I could recall the first time he kissed me, the night we made love on that beach, the fights over toothpaste brands, and the moments in between. I could close my eyes and hear him whispering in my ear the first time we held our baby girl. I could feel his arms around me comforting me when my father died. I didn't need photos to remember my life.

After that I was never ashamed of my lack of people pictures. I have more memories than perhaps I deserve. More importantly I still have him. People walk by my cubicle and ask me what the picture is of and I tell them that it doesn't really matter.