A Few Good Men
New York · Laguna Beach · Family / Return
The ElixirA Few Good Men Redux
A gathering of Reifs — and Reif Mascots — across two memorials, two coasts, and the same family story carried forward.
A Gathering of Reifs
Now and Then
Family photographs collapse time faster than memory can explain it.
In 2021, we gathered for Mom’s service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.
Later, we gathered again for Sharon Reif’s service at Heisler Park in Laguna Beach, California.
Different coast. Different goodbye. Same family.
A family reunion and a memorial are separated by one thing: who is missing from the photograph.
New York · 2021
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
The earlier gathering belongs to New York: Mom’s service, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and a family assembled under one roof to mark a life.
The city made the scene large. The reason for being there made everything else small.
The earlier Reif gathering in New York.
Open StoryThe cathedral becomes part of the family geography.
Open StoryLaguna Beach
Sharon Reif
The later gathering belongs to the Pacific: Heisler Park, Laguna Beach, and another moment when the Reifs came together because someone mattered enough to stop the ordinary calendar.
In Memoriam
Sharon Reif
Redux
The Photograph Changes Meaning
A photograph taken at one gathering becomes evidence at the next.
People age. Locations change. The family configuration shifts.
The image stays still while the meaning keeps moving.
The Family Equation
Memory + Return + Absence = Presence ReconsideredCompanion Archive · Midwest
Remembering the Good Times in the Midwest
Bob and Sharon. Bryce, Chase and Bree. Mom and Dad.
The memorial photographs hold the absences. These companion stories hold the motion: Indianapolis, Geist Lake, road trips, family visits, the 500, and the ordinary good times that become extraordinary once they move into memory.
The memorial tells us who we lost. The archive reminds us how much living came before the goodbye.
Another piece of the family archive: Bob and Sharon, Bryce, Chase, Bree, Mom and Dad, and the good times gathered around Indiana and the Midwest.
Open StoryAnother piece of the family archive: Bob and Sharon, Bryce, Chase, Bree, Mom and Dad, and the good times gathered around Indiana and the Midwest.
Open StoryAnother piece of the family archive: Bob and Sharon, Bryce, Chase, Bree, Mom and Dad, and the good times gathered around Indiana and the Midwest.
Open StoryAnother piece of the family archive: Bob and Sharon, Bryce, Chase, Bree, Mom and Dad, and the good times gathered around Indiana and the Midwest.
Open StoryAnother piece of the family archive: Bob and Sharon, Bryce, Chase, Bree, Mom and Dad, and the good times gathered around Indiana and the Midwest.
Open StoryAnother piece of the family archive: Bob and Sharon, Bryce, Chase, Bree, Mom and Dad, and the good times gathered around Indiana and the Midwest.
Open StoryAnother piece of the family archive: Bob and Sharon, Bryce, Chase, Bree, Mom and Dad, and the good times gathered around Indiana and the Midwest.
Open StoryAnother piece of the family archive: Bob and Sharon, Bryce, Chase, Bree, Mom and Dad, and the good times gathered around Indiana and the Midwest.
Open StoryThe Midwest Memory Equation
Family + Place + Repetition = A Life Remembered in Chapters