A Somber Family Occasion

Hey gang...

Sunday, July 14, marked what would have been the 40th birthday of our son, Judah Matthew Long. He was killed in a car wreck at 20, it marked a devastating time in our lives, what had been a family of 5.

We had a little family "get-together" of the 4 of us (mom, me, our remaining two, brother Josh and sister Rebekah).

I brought my camera with a tripod to capture the "moments"...

It was a bright sunny day, I set the camera manually to expose the sky at +1 EV, the results were "interesting" because there were a lot of bright spots, I just did some quick adjustments, you can see a handful of the results in Facebook:

https://www.facebook.c​om …29.100000706727​496&type=3

Yikes! It doesn't look like the link I posted works! I'll have to mess with it some more!

Well, try these single links:

https://www.facebook.c​om …0706727496&type​=3&theater

https://www.facebook.c​om …0706727496&type​=3&theater

https://www.facebook.c​om …0706727496&type​=3&theater

https://www.facebook.c​om …0706727496&type​=3&theater

https://www.facebook.c​om …0706727496&type​=3&theater

https://www.facebook.c​om …0706727496&type​=3&theater

https://www.facebook.c​om …0706727496&type​=3&theater

I'm sorry for your loss, Tony .

Tony-
I'm also sorry for your loss. As you say on your facebook, grief is a lifelong process. If you aren't already aware of them, Alan Pederson and his wife Denise (https://www.facebook.c​om/angelsacrosstheusa; http://www.angelsacros​stheusa.com/) do a lot of great work for the grieving; they have both lost children (I think both were through auto accidents). Alan is a professional musician and has some very poignant songs (http://www.angelsacros​stheusa.com/MUSIC.html) that tell the story that those of us who have lost loved ones are living.

Hey, thanks for the thoughts, Carmen, and stsva, thanks for that link!

I'm at an age where more and more friends and acquaintances have been losing loved ones. Back when my son died 20 years ago, well, I was "only" 42 years old, and not many of my "contemporaries" could conceive of what we were going through. Now, well, just in the past year and a half, I've had several people who I've known quite well over the years "pass"...and I'm the one offering comfort to their bereaved loved ones!!!

The passing of time helps to ease some of the pain, but the pain never goes away. Thanks God for our ability to remember our loved ones that have passed away. Worrying about forgetting really unhinged me when my dad passed away 28 years ago. He was the first person that was close to me to died. To this day I can always remember the stubble on his face when he'd kiss me as a kid when I went to bed. Anyway, I can't ever imagine the pain you, your wife and surviving kids felt 20 years ago.