Elizabeth Stringer Keef

Elizabeth, a professor at Lesley College in Boston, Massachusetts was always too busy. She has always been one of those people who love their work. She was completely occupied with her time-consuming job. Her professor role wasn’t all she had to deal with as she was also a co-president at the Massachusetts Council for Exceptional Children. Moreover, she was also trying to manage time to complete her Ph.D. That day Elizabeth ran to meet her friends who were in New York City. 

Roaming Around

One day Elizabeth was exploring the streets of New York with her pals. At that moment, Jennie, her friend noticed a photograph covered in dust lying on the ground. Both friends felt like they were somehow meant to find this photograph. It was no ordinary photo but the one of a happy moment and certainly of a grand day of someone’s life. A wedding photo! They were quite sure that it belonged to someone who worked in one of the offices around the street. 

Who Were These People?

Who were these people? Were they all alive and doing fine? These questions used to pop up  in Elizabeth’s head. Will she ever be able to know what happened the people in the photograph? 

Jennie Left

In October 2001, Jennie was about to move permanently to California. A week before she was leaving New York City, she called Elizabeth to take the photo they found on the street. Elizabeth knew the importance of this picture and she was ready to take the responsibility. “I visited New York City, the street and my friend Jennie, who lived in New York City at the time.

Huge Responsibility

“She gave it to me with the request that I do something meaningful with it,” said Elizabeth. Jennie wanted to be certain that the only person who’ll be “persistent” in searching for this photo’s owner or at least their family members. What Elizabeth didn’t know at this point was the change that this picture will bring in her life.

 

Always In Her Pocket

People carry photos of their loved ones in their wallet but Elizabeth carried this photograph with her even when all the persons in the picture were strangers to her. “Sometimes I would check on it just to make sure it was still there. I’ve always had the same feeling about it; for me, there is something very familiar about these strangers. And there’s so much joy in the photo.” she said later on.