Caching images in runtime for textflow or text area

Question

Hi,
I am building a chat app, each user has a picture.  So each time a user talks, I display their picture along side with what they typed.  I only know the URL of the picture at run time.  Here's what I'm trying to do:
var p:ParagraphElement = new ParagraphElement();
img = new InlineGraphicElement();
img.source = "http://www.something.com/image.jpg";
img.height = 40;
img.width = 40;
p.addChild(img);
var s:SpanElement = new SpanElement();
s.text = "Username: ";
p.addChild(s);
textArea.textFlow.addChild(p);
The above code shows the image fine.  However, the moment I add these lines:
var p1:ParagraphElement = new ParagraphElement();
p1.addChild(img);
The first image disappears...  How do I reuse that orginal image element?
Thanks!

Answer 1

If I do that, will it make 2 HTTP requests to grab the same image?  My original design was to use TextFlow with <img> tag, but after I load the same image a few times, I realise that it's making a HTTP request for the same image every time.
The question is if I want to load the same image in a textarea/textflow multiple times, how do I do it without the SWF making multiple HTTP requests.
Thanks!