Last spring on one of my many visits to my grandfather’s nursing home I shot on my Film Pentax K1000 my mother and grandfather holding hands. The instant my film paper hit the developer in the darkroom some many days later, I knew I would be in love with this photo.

Even though he may have unlearned the words to express love, beauty, family, names, places, walk by the Charles at Harvard, Monadnock hikes, Laurel Lake swims, Grampy never forgot the essence of touch. When I would grab his hand, much like my mother did in this photo, the warmth between our two hands would meet and tell me a story. I would feel flowing between us a memory that could no longer be revealed in voice, but in a simpler and quieter way. This unconventional communication between us was just as beautiful, if not more.