The Song

   A friend of mine has a toddler son who is enthralled with my iPad. He even has his own folder on it with age-appropriate games. I'm just as likely to be greeted with "Can I play on your iPad?" when I go to see them as I am with my name.

   I mentioned a while back to her that an old smartphone would work as a tablet for him and that way when I move he can keep some of the games we played together. I promised I'd take one of our old SG3s and wipe it out, then help her load it before I leave. It kind of got tucked away in the back of my mind and before I knew it, several months had passed.

   Tonight I remembered it and decided to get Randy's out since it had seen less use. I started to run a factory wipe on it when I realized I'd never looked at it to see if there was anything on the SD card like pictures or videos.

   There was a handful of pictures taken before he was hospitalized; mostly landscapes, a couple of some snow we'd had (he hated South Dakota winters - it was a testament to how much he cared for me that he stayed up here), and then they got a little...weird. I knew why. I'd seen him begin to struggle with technology in the hospital as he started to forget how to use it. They were all from the same day, September 9th, 2014. There were no more taken after this date.

   The pictures, however, weren't what caught my attention. There was a video. It was short and there was no visual content, only audio. It was the last 20 seconds of a song.

   I didn't recognize it immediately. I had to run it through Shazam, a song-identifying app. It came up with a result in a matter of seconds.

   It's Brad Paisley's "Who Needs Pictures."
  
   I checked my calendar. I believe the date is the day after I went to Fort Meade and took twenty pictures of our family and friends to hang on a board in his room, along with some autumn decor to brighten up the place. He still knew who I was and recognized the people in the photos. They were everyone he loved, everyone who loved him and had been there for him. I'm not sure if he heard the song on the radio and wanted me to hear it but forgot before he could share, but he remembered everyone. The song was meant for them as much as it was meant for me.

There's an old Kodak camera in my dresser drawer
I ran across it just this afternoon
And I realized that I don't ever use it anymore
In fact last time I did I think it was with you

When we were down in Cozumel
We had the whole beach to ourselves
And it's crazy now to think
That it's all there on that film
And I could take it to the store
To be developed, but what for
I can still see everything just fine
And who needs pictures with a memory like mine

Standin' there I couldn't help but think about
Everything that might be on that roll
I think it even has another trip we took
I guess that must've been at least three years ago

When we were down in Baton Rouge
And there wasn't much to do
So we drove into New Orleans every afternoon
And I swear that you would think
That it was only yesterday
'Cause I can still see everything just fine
Who needs pictures with a memory like mine

Somewhere in my closet
There's a cardboard box just sittin' on a shelf
It's full of faded memories
And it's been there ever since the night you left

Oh, just forgotten photographs
To remind me of the past
Oh, but I can still see everything just fine
Who needs pictures with a memory like mine
Yeah, who needs pictures with a memory like mine