Five years ago we moved into a new home, 20 minutes from our first home. I brought my babies (the first 2) home to that house. We put so much love, time and energy into it. Even typing this post makes me emotional to think about the wonderful memories we had there. We made wonderful friends in our old neighborhood. At first when we moved, I made an effort to keep in touch with most of my neighbors who had truly become friends. We attended the wedding of our next-door neighbor’s daughter, had play dates, and emailed or phoned a our friends until eventually, we began to lose touch.
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I became friends with Anne Rogovin who, in her 80’s continued to walk for what seemed like miles per day – every day of the year. She was a retired teacher of mentally handicapped children who wrote manuals on child rearing with admonitions like ”Turn off the TV!” She died in 2003 at 84 years old.
Through her, I met her husband, Milton Rogovin, who is the inspiration for this post. He died on Monday at 101 years old. He was a kind, peaceful man; a retired optometrist turned photographer. We were connected by one of his photographs; an unknown girl in Chile – he always wanted to find her and take a photo years later. His work moves you. He was a social documentary photographer. He photographed miners, factory workers and more from around the world. One of his books, Triptychs,is an amazing collection of people from the East Side of Buffalo, NY – photographed over a 20 year span. It’s incredibly moving to see how life changes in a family over 20 years. Birth, death and aging.
The point of this post is 2-fold.
#1: I want to remember these wonderful people who have touched my life and share them with you.
#2: Just last week, I was talking to my oldest son about Milton. He always asks me how he’s doing and when we can visit him. You see, we haven’t visited or communicated with him for a couple of years. This man, I used to bring dinner to, sit with and listen to his amazing stories – someone I valued so much…someone I’d taken for granted would be around for another visit…. I feel so bad letting the business of life interfere with why we live – to share with others. I’m always telling my boys how important it is to make time for people you care about, and here I’ve neglected to take my own advice.
I think it’s important to teach our children that we should treat every day like there might not be a tomorrow. Appreciate family and friends, let them know you care. Live each day with passion.
Goodbye Milton.
