I was visiting my parents in Ventura yesterday, and they have pictures of each of their grandchildren adorning the wall of their staircase.
My mom asked me if I would help her select a new picture of Jud to print and fit the frame. As I went through my photos, I was trying to find one of his most recent photos, but one that did not necessarily reflect the attack of Krabbe on his body. My mom ended up asking me to use the one that was on Jud’s program for his memorial service. I took the original, cropped it, diminished the background so his face was more prominent, and then began printing it.
As the printer slowly put ink on the page, I tearfully realized that this is the last picture of Jud that will go in this frame, one of the six lining my parent’s stairwell. While all the other grandchildren will continue to grow older and their pictures will be updated to reflect their development, Jud’s will stay the same. Jud is their 5th grandchild, so he will always be in the 5th spot on their wall, but life will go on around him. I imagined pictures of each of the grandkids in their 20’s while Jud is still just 2 ½.
