Recently, social networks have appeared a series of touching shares from people who accidentally discover images of lost grandparents, grandmothers, fathers, mothers or loved ones left in Street View mode of the Google Maps application. They are standing in front of the house, sitting under the tree canopy, playing around, or simply looking at the lens as a waiting from the past. Those seemingly small moments make the hearts of the living sleepy.
One user wrote: I cant believe that my grandmother is still standing in front of the gate, wearing an old shirt and a familiar backrest. She has been dead for more than 2 years. Thank you Google for keeping your reflection in such a daily moment.
Many people said that they spent hours just "going" through each alley, each familiar neighborhood on the map, hoping to see the familiar shadow once again. Some people discovered the image of the deceased father carrying a motorbike, the mother watering the plants... Some people saw the old roof - which was sold after a relative passed away - still traceable through satellite photos.
This trend is not new, but in the context of social networks spreading emotions quickly, thousands of people have simultaneously searched, saved photos, even printed them out, written diaries or sent thanks to... the technology itself. Under the articles are thousands of similar comments, most of them say: "It's not just a photo, but a small opportunity to "meeting" the person you love again".
This trend reflects a very real, very human need: nostalgia and emotional connection with deceased relatives. It is a way to heal, when people feel they are not really apart from each other, whether the gap in time or space.
However, not everyone is lucky enough to find a relative on a digital map. Google Street View photos are not always updated, some places are renewed after a few months, but some places have kept old photos for many years. Therefore, finding such images is extremely chanceful and valuable.
The trend of "meeting relatives again through Google Maps" has also made many people question how technology remembers people, about preserving the simplest things: a figure sitting in front of a house, a foot in a deserted alley, or the quiet look following a Google car accidentally passing by.
Although they are just static images in a few blurred pixel images, the vivid memories they evoke still make millions of people excited. And from there, a gentle reminder resounded: love as long as possible.
