Essays on two old photos

As soon as I got off work on Friday night, I rushed to the bus station non-stop, and an hour later I returned to my home, which had been away from home for a week. My mother, who came from my hometown the day before, quickly took out a satchel from the bedroom, slowly took out a small bag from the satchel, opened the tightly wrapped plastic film layer by layer, and handed me twenty faded and yellow old photos. Looking closely, I was dumbfounded. There are even photos of me when I left home to serve in the army 37 years ago: one was taken when I left my hometown in military uniform and stood on the bridge singing in the water; One was taken by me sitting in the battalion office with a microphone and calling my comrades with a camera.

Looking at two faded and yellow old photos, I am very grateful to my mother for her persistent care, so that I can still see myself 37 years ago: a young man of 18 years old. I am 1 m 65, with a pointed chin and a wide military uniform. Compared with my current weight of 1 m 70,75 kg, it is really dwarfed and extremely disproportionate.

Perhaps because of nostalgia, after my mother and wife went to bed that night, I looked at two old yellow and faded photos alone, which I couldn't forget for a long time. I recalled the past when I was a soldier when I was young, and felt that the happy time at that time seemed to be yesterday.

It was the last afternoon of 198 1 year1October, and the snow in my hometown seemed to come early and snowflakes were flying all over the sky. I am full of energy at the age of eighteen. I trotted from the tea garden to the courtyard dam in front of my house. I was stopped by my long-awaited sister and handed me a notice of enlistment with a big red seal. At that moment, I stood in the middle of the dam with the notice, staring at the long-awaited notice of enlistment, letting the snow fall all over the sky and the cold wind rub my skin, neither wet nor cold, only warm current. My sister saw me standing in the cold wind, turning back from the house to the courtyard dam, dragging me into the house with snowflakes, and a delicious smell of meat came to my nose. Under the dim kerosene lamp, my mother had a bright smile on her face, thinking of her favorite pig's head meat during the New Year. When she saw me coming back, she conveniently fed a piece in my mouth. That night, my grandfather, my father and I raised glasses frequently, and my grandmother and mother gave me dishes in a bowl. They all want me to practice my military skills hard in the big schools of the People's Liberation Army, to win glory for my motherland and my family.

On the morning when the recruits gathered in the commune, the brigade organized a farewell party for the recruits. My courtyard dam is very lively. My uncle, the branch secretary in the next room, personally put on a big red flower for me, and the villagers who beat gongs and drums sent me to the township armed forces department. In the grass dam of the commune, 100 many recruits lined up in the center, listened to the simple dress code of the township armed minister, and then let the recruits enter the auditorium of the township cinema in turn, with military uniforms distributed to the recruits on the seats inside. I came to a seat, took off my old clothes three times, five times and two times, put on a brand-new green military uniform, put on my backpack, backpack and kettle, and walked across to Caoba. I was arranged in the second row of recruits.

After lunch that day, the recruits who had just put on military uniforms were allowed to have a half-day holiday, reunite with their relatives and enjoy the warmth before leaving home. I am like a flying bird, flying all the way home, trying to get more time to reunite with my grandparents, parents, sisters and brothers, so that my family can feel the strength and happiness of wearing a military uniform. That afternoon, I told my grandparents about the delicious food I ate in the army at noon. My brothers and sisters hugged me and listened with relish, drooling. My brother took my hand and said, when I grow up, I want to be a PLA man like my brother and eat delicious food sent by the army.

It is also a coincidence that a studio master passed by the road outside our dam. My mother is familiar with the photographer, so my mother stopped him and took a photo with the family. I didn't think it was enough, so I pestered my mother and spent ten yuan more. I came to the bridge where I enjoyed the cool summer night and took a picture with my back to the old house in Qingwa. Ten days later, my mother went to the photo studio on the street to retrieve the photos and sent me a family photo of the army, so that when I miss my relatives at home, I can look at the relatives in the photos. I am not lonely in the distance, and I feel my relatives are around.

The next day, the troops set off from the supply and marketing cooperative guest house next to the armed forces department of the district, took the bus and train all the way, and arrived in a strange ravine in Hanyin County, Shaanxi Province three days later. After three months of training, I was assigned to the 2nd Battalion of 592 10 regiment and became a correspondent. With the passage of time, more than a month's hard work and hard study have won the affirmation of the battalion commander and the care of his comrades-in-arms, and he is like a duck to water in the battalion, and quickly adapts to the work of the correspondent post. In order to reassure my family, I asked my comrades to take a work photo of the office phone and send it home. Soon my mother wrote that the whole family was very happy to see the photos and were proud of your work. Since then, my mother has loved photos and bought an album to collect the photos I sent back.

After living in the army for more than three years, every time I go to a new post, I ask my comrades to take a photo and send it to my parents in my hometown by mail, so that they can understand my son's fatness, the progress of his work, less troubles, more peace of mind and more happiness.

1985 1 month when I came home from the army, my mother specially made a small photo frame to hang on the wall and put some photos I sent back in it. My mother said it was a glorious experience for me in the army. When I have time in a few decades, I will take it down to have a look and feel the good memories of growing up as a child. Later, when I got married and had children, I rushed about for my family life and stayed away from home for work, so I didn't have time to take care of my mother's carefully collected photo albums and photo frames. I am busy on the track of work and distant life.

Working outside for nearly 30 years has witnessed the continuous development of the times. From work needs to cameras, I changed from a layman to a photographer, and took many photos, which were published in China City Appearance and local party newspapers. Until today, with the integration of new media in TV stations, I have become a photographer and cameraman. But I still can't forget what happened 20 years ago. At that time, cameras were all made of film, which was not as convenient as digital cameras now. One year on my mother's birthday, I took advantage of my work and took a public camera for more than five hours to go back to my hometown, taking five full-length films for my parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, and cousins. Photos are developed one by one, and they are all happy smiling faces. At that moment, I had thousands of emotions. In the past years, I have always been the first protagonist in my parents' photo frames and photo albums, but that time, my parents became the first protagonist in my lens. ...

The next day, my mother told me that because my brother repaired the house in his hometown and sold it, his family was bought by the buyer many times and moved countless times. The photo frame was broken and the photo album was wet, and the photo was wrapped in a plastic bag by my mother. In order to keep the precious gifts brought by my mother, I copied all the old photos into electronic versions with my mobile phone that night and saved them in my mobile phone and computer.

These days, once I have nothing at hand, I will open my mobile phone to look at my photos when I was young, recall my military journey, think of those lovely comrades-in-arms and amiable old heads in the military camp, and feel that I am still so young and happy with my dear heads and comrades-in-arms in the military camp. That kind of feeling is kind and warm, and even the manic mood in hot summer days has become cool.

While I am happy, I think that the old photos will turn yellow slowly with the change of time and will eventually disappear in the years. The electronic photos that can be stored in the computer will not be old, but they will be as young as ever, accompanying me to continue to feel the beauty of youth in the years to come and recall those happy and warm days in the military camp.