Sleeping Beauty II

I just got home from my friend Katie's house. She got her new place a few months ago and we have been trying to find a time to get together so I could see it. Tonight was the night. Her place is gorgeous. She could host her own show on how to make your place look like a palace....all on a budget. Her stories of painting and refinishing were inspiring. She has a gift. We spent the night chatting up each other and laughing our asses off. Her 29th birthday was on the 30th of December and for her birthday she got a book from her best friend Christine called Sleeping Beauty II.

SIDENOTE: Several weeks ago we were all out for drinks and I overheard Katie talking about the book Sleeping Beauty II. She was going on and on about how she loves that book and hopes to get one someday. I, (in perfect Emily form) interrupted them and said "Oh if you love Sleeping Beauty so much, I have an extra copy of the DVD if you want it." I was talking DISNEY version....not..... so not the version that they were talking about. The book that Katie was hoping for as a birthday gift is a book of post-mortem pictures from the late 1800's and early 1900's. All of the pictures taken by a doctor and saved as a pubic file. Basically, back in those times pictures were very expensive and the only picture usually taken of anyone was after they had died. People would pay big money to have a picture taken in honor of their loved ones who had died. This doctor had complied a book of the death portraits that he had taken as a part of his practice. The first version was out of print and about $400 for one. Christine had bought her the second version.

OK - back to tonight. I told Katie I wanted to see her beloved book. I needed to see what all the hoopla was all about. Katie had told me that the pictures were beautiful. They showed love. They showed true sadness. They portrayed how delicate life truly is. I was careful to not bend pages when opening her book and starting leafing thru the pages. Whoa - the pictures!! It was truly eerie. It was shocking. AND it was utterly beautiful. The people from that time would take such care in setting up the picture. Some were covered in flowers. Some had the whole family around. Some had the eyes painted on to look like they were alive. Now, you have to remember....This is the ONLY picture they have of their loved one. The ONLY picture. Hard to grasp in a time where we video record every piece of our kid's life or take pictures with our wireless phones. As I turned each page, I found myself taking deep breaths as memories of funerals and loved ones I have lost popped into my head. The really ironic thing is.....over the past 3 days my good friend and ex-boyfriend Mike has been coming up in random conversations...I have been thinking about when Mike died in a car accident when he was 27 (I was 25). I told Katie the story of how he died. I told her what he looked like in the casket. How I was told he had died. How I had lost my Grandpa A just 2 days before Mike's death. Guess you could say I had a bad week. Anyway....I felt like Debbie Downer (a la Saturday Night Live). She understood. Didn't say a word... just understood. I think I need to go visit his grave. I miss him. Katie was worried that I would think she was sick to want and cherish a book of pictures of dead people. I really don't. I saw what she saw....I totally get it. I saw the love.