At the back of the crowd, because of movement and long photographic exposures, people seem to vanish into thin air. Life's briefness and fragility are rendered visible. Ping's freezing minister and his newest convert have long gone to meet their maker. James Dean is gone, too, and so is Adeline Nall and Otto Ping. The meaning of their lives derives from what we see and remember and pass on.
Religion provides solace, but only history, it seems, can keep our collective feet on the ground.
Long may the Indiana Historical Society remember, and long may Traces keep those memories alive.