Old photo

I came across an old photo of myself. It was a very old picture that was taken the summer after I graduated high school. I'm don't know why the photographer wanted to take the picture but there must have been something they wanted to capture. I'm still not sure what that might have been or if it turned out the way they envisioned.

As I looked at the picture I thought about that girl. It was a moment in time as she looked out to the future. Who is she and what lies ahead. So fresh, so young, so thoughtful. So many ways the paths ahead could lead or she could decide to take.

Am I that girl in the photo? Do I recognize that person? I will never look the way I did so many years ago, but this wasn't about physical appearance. I'm still connected with that girl in the photo. There has been many years, with many decisions and choices made by that girl. She stepped beyond some acceptable perimeters while staying well inside others. But, I'm not that girl. There is no way we could be the same with such a span of time between us. Things are not the same now, as in that moment before. How could they be? It would be unrealistic to say it's all the same. It would be boring to think nothing had grown or changed in all those years.

So much has been captured in the time spent in between now and then. And so much more has been done than, I think, even that photographer might have envisioned.
TT