My recent attendance at a celebration of life in memory of a good friend caused many emotions and thoughts and questions, as such events often do.

The speeches were largely sincere; the guests were mainly respectful and wistful and sad and supportive. The food was tolerable. Overall, the day was good, with many opportunities to learn and to grow. The slide show (digital, of course) included photographs from the deceased’s youth, through her last days. Each photograph showed us something special about her, with each picture adding a bit to the overall “big picture” of who she was.

Each image stays on the screen for only a few seconds. Like life itself, we have only a glimpse of colour and light, and then move on. Each image is two-dimensional, giving us a taste of who the person was, without really letting us know the depth of substance of her life. Still, though, the images complement each other, just as they complement the life of the person shown in them. As the slide show loops through its dozens of images, each new viewing helps us connect the different stages of life and the different activities and people related to that life.

Those photographic displays to help all of us to share the life of the person whose life is being celebrated. They help to extend the deceased’s life a little bit longer, and they help to revive memories.