The one thing I can’t live without. Just one. That’s a lot to ask. Today’s culture is so materialistic that many would think this is a tough question to answer. However, for me it’s simple. I can’t live without the photos saved on my mom’s computer. 

Everything is saved to her MacBook drive. All of the memories from before I was even born up until the present. It includes her photos, my photos, my brother’s photos, and more. Those photos spark memories of the fun vacations we used to take when I was younger, without a worry or a care in the world. We went to Tennessee when I was 4 and my little brother was 2. We went to the Tennessee aquarium. I don’t remember a lot about that vacation because I was so little but those pictures help me remember. We also went to Buffalo, New York when I was 8 and my brother was six. We did the Niagara Falls boat tour, hiked up a waterfall, and saw fireworks over the Niagara Falls. It is great to reminisce about that vacation through the many photos my mom and dad took. When I would sit around all day and watch TV with mom, or help dad cook in the kitchen on my step stool. Those memories are things I never want to lose. Like a flower fades my memory too will fade. This is why the pictures are so important, because even though my mind fades the photos don’t, even though I don’t remember the photos remember for me.

Without those pictures it just makes forgetting the good so much easier. In life good and bad constantly mix. What’s important is remembering the good while only accepting the bad. As life goes on you frequently have to ask yourself, “Does the good outweigh the bad?” If your answer is not then you know it’s time to make a change whether it be getting a new job, or ending a poor relationship. However, if your answer is yes then you continue to persist and push through whatever hardship is happening.

I need to remember the good and accept the bad memories or else living would have the purpose there would be no path except one of sadness and constant despair. Reminisce in the past, don’t wallow in it or else you’ll miss the bright future ahead. You’ll miss the bright future because you’ll be stuck in a mindset of uselessness and self-doubt. A despair that pushes your mental state lower, and lower until there is nowhere else to go. I refuse to miss the bright future ahead. The photos on my mom’s computer are the one thing I can’t live without because they show me where I was in a positive light so I can know where I’m going in the future.