Father & Son reunions ...

[Smiles]

So difficult these days ... to search for something on the net only to be hijacked into Annoyance Land with the adds popping up all over the place, invariably complete garbage (I was doing a flight search the last week, found what I wanted to know, got outta dodge, only to be stalked by the online booking site for days with other ideas for flights to Nepal, or Uzbekistan).

 

But this little gem ~ completely unasked for ~ intrigued me to keep on clicking deep into a world of gentle love and charming simplicity.

A young Chinese man (Tian Jun) and his new born son (Tian Lin) have had their photo taken together in basically the same simple pose, more the better for black and white, for 30 years.

Hard to imagine more tenderness ... yet devoid of any smidgen of mushy sentimentality.

 

http://lifehacklane.com/1211/a-father-son-take-the-same-photo-for-years-the-results-are-stunning/1/

[steveboy]

This picture gallery gave me some food for thought

Not so much about the obvious development of the son,

but over the progressive change in the father.

So sad !

[firecat69]

I found nothing sad about this at all. Time marches on and the inevitable change of our appearance takes place . Some age better then others due to genes or lifestyle.

 

I found the changes not unusual at all and in fact the Father looks fine. We don't know how old the father was in the first photo ( did I miss it) and thus his age in the final photo. But looks not bad for a Grandfather.

[Smiles]

" ...  the father was in the first photo (did I miss it) and thus his age in the final photo ... "

 

It's there ... the first photo. A rather handsome father in my opinion.

 

[firecat69]

I meant I have no idea how old father was in 1st photo. He could be 25- 35 I would guess which would make him 55-65 in last photo. Just a guess?

[steveboy]

I found nothing sad about this at all. Time marches on and the inevitable change of our appearance takes place . Some age better then others due to genes or lifestyle.

 

Of course, aging is natural and the change in appearance is inevitable.

But isn't it sad that it has to be this way?

Why cannot we stay the same after reaching adulthood, always young until the machine stops painlessly after a certain life time?

[vinapu]

 

Why cannot we stay the same after reaching adulthood, always young until the machine stops painlessly after a certain life time?

for the same reason that Sunday can stay on forever and Monday with returning to work inevitably comes next.

 

Getting old is fun, one still hears when they say 'take it ' but always can use excuse of poor hearing at old age when they say

"give me"

[Alexx]

But why cannot we stay the same after reaching adulthood, always young until the machine stops painlessly after a certain life time?

That just leads to different problems, not necessarily to less, as the movie "In Time" shows.

[steveboy]

That just leads to different problems, not necessarily to less, as the movie "In Time" shows.

 

Nooo,  I don't mean a science fiction story.  

Simply a slight modification in our biology where we don't experience the progressive degradation of aging after adulthood but we remain the same until a biological clock times out, and then we painlessly stop breathing and living.  In this way, we can stay young for 60 years but we still die, just not from rotting away...

[Smiles]

I meant I have no idea how old father was in 1st photo. He could be 25- 35 I would guess which would make him 55-65 in last photo. Just a guess?

I think you are probably about right. I was thinking he looked 21 or 22-ish in the above photo (i.e. the first shot in the series) which would make him 51 or 52-ish now.

 

I am here in Canada right now and as I look around me the country seems to be filled to over-flowing with 50-ish men and women who 'seem' to have simply given up on maintaining even a semblance of slimness, healthiness, and ~ looking at the sagging faces here as they pass me by ~ even a general happiness.

In a way it's why I was quite delighted to trip over this photo series:  it's true that the body of the young father above has given way to gravity and softness, but the essence of the series (i.e. the forever love and happiness between father and son no matter the years going by) yields none of the 'giving in' I observe on the streets of this Canadian town.

 

I understand this observation is wildly generalized in the sense that I do not know from Adam any of these passers-bye, but in fact the self-same comment can be made regarding good friends of mine in their 50's. It's depressing, and makes me miss the overall Asian/Thai sense of intuitiveness when it comes to dignified aging.

 

(Back in 3 weeks ... speed on, Time  )

[kokopelli]

Nooo,  I don't mean a science fiction story.  

Simply a slight modification in our biology where we don't experience the progressive degradation of aging after adulthood but we remain the same until a biological clock times out, and then we painlessly stop breathing and living.  In this way, we can stay young for 60 years but we still die, just not from rotting away...

You should see the film, Logan's Run. They are forever young at least until 30 yo then their clock runs out you might say; they go to a better place.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run_(film)

[steveboy]

You should see the film, Logan's Run. They are forever young at least until 30 yo then their clock runs out you might say; they go to a better place.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logan%27s_Run_(film)

 

Thank you for the suggestion.  It's an interesting story.

 

But again, I don't want to create a science fiction story.   All the change I wish for is that our lives end gracefully after a given number of years, not by an inevitable decay of old age.   And I base my idea on many services and benefits that stay "alive" unchanged for a fixed period of time.  If I subscribe to a magazine for one year, the issues keep arriving neat and complete up to the last one, and then they stop altogether, instead of becoming more boring and full of errors to the point that I will cancel them. Same with my car insurance for a year, that runs unchanged until it suddenly expires.

[Alexx]

Okay, that works with your car insurance, but how about your car (hint, hint)?

[steveboy]

Okay, that works with your car insurance, but how about your car (hint, hint)?

 

The oldest of my cars is 22 years old, and I drive it practically every day.

It has never gone to a mechanic since I maintain it, and it runs perfectly well.

The only way I would get rid of it, with tears in my eyes, 

is when I decide to buy a new car with modern safety features,

and this won't be the end of it but I will give it to someone else.

 

I also maintain myself in perfect running condition, and I don't know yet

how I will be put out of service.  Hopefully it happens instantly.

[kokopelli]

steveboy, you sound like an essay I read in the NYTimes by some guy who declared he will stop taking any and all meds once he reaches the age of 60 yo and let nature takes it's course. Bullshit! That guy will do everything, just like anyone else, to prolong his life. But if one really has a strong opinion on this matter, then just cancel your subscription to Life and end it.

[steveboy]

steveboy, you sound like an essay I read in the NYTimes by some guy who declared he will stop taking any and all meds once he reaches the age of 60 yo and let nature takes it's course. Bullshit! That guy will do everything, just like anyone else, to prolong his life. But if one really has a strong opinion on this matter, then just cancel your subscription to Life and end it.

 

No, I don't get what you mean.  I have nothing in common with the guy you read about in the NY Times.  I haven't stopped anything when I reached 60 yo, it was just another birthday.  And I take whichever medicines I need to take to get healthy. At this time I don't need any, but one never knows. 

 

But if YOU have strong opinions in this matter, just cancel your subscription to Life and let it expire.

[NIrishGuy]

Aw what a lovely set of pics.

 

What I found interesting and moving were the actual body language poses in each shot. In the younger years the dad is seen lovingly hugging his child, but then the child grows into a young teenage boy / man and seems to go through the period when (and  I"m guessing here) that he just maybe didn't feel just as comfortable or willing to hug his dad anymore ( we've all been there I'm sure at some point). Then in the later pics the young guy "grows up" to become a mature man and was it seems more than happy and willing to be seen hugging his old dad again, all the way through to them both with the new baby  - very touching.

 

And I agree also that the father actually doesn't look so bad as he aged, I was expecting a lot worse and it made me feel maybe 50 ( or 60?) isn't the end of life as we know it after all as some would have us believe :-)

[steveboy]

Aw what a lovely set of pics.

---

And I agree also that the father actually doesn't look so bad as he aged, I was expecting a lot worse and it made me feel maybe 50 ( or 60?) isn't the end of life as we know it after all as some would have us believe :-)

 

You may want to add 20 years more.  Neither 70 nor 80 should be a normal end of life. Even if one reads of famous people dying before that time (who should have money to pay for the best health care).  Today I read that Prince, who died at 57, did so from an overdose of a prescription drug, an opioid. 

 

I agree that the father in the pictures aged well.  What I challenge is the need for us to age before we die.  But I have to take this up with the Creator...