a painful reminder

[Soseki]

Hello,

For Jenny, the photo was a painful reminder of how happy she used to be.


Aren’t ‘the photo was a painful reminder’ and ‘how happy she used to be’contradictory to one another?

Thank you

 

[teechar]

For Jenny, the photo was a painful reminder of how happy she used to be.

Don't let that confuse you. For example, the photograph may no longer exist, or Jenny may no longer be alive.