Day 863
Today was Picture Day at Asher’s school. Making the choice to spend more time volunteering there, I signed up to help the photographers with the photos. The kids would line up and my job was to make them camera ready/parent pleased. The students were great and there were only a few times when I needed to intercede to make them “picture perfect!" I enjoyed every minute!
My dogs seem to enjoy posing for the camera. Tonight, they were almost smiling as I snapped a few pictures. As for the students, their smiles were beautiful and contagious! Except for those little black combs (future weapons on the playground), the day went off flawlessly.
What is it about taking a picture? We mostly smile, pose and look directly at the lens of the camera. Perhaps we know that memories are being made and we want to look worthy.
Lately, as we declutter three generations of treasures at The Big White House, it is the photographs that are the hardest with which to part. Faded pictures of ancestors I barely remember need to be lovingly honored and thrown. Even my parent’s photographs need to be thinned out a bit. It’s still hard…
When I gaze at those pictures deemed “keepers”, I see a pattern emerge. All were taken in happy and exciting times. Vacations, birthdays, and other events which brought a smile to all those frozen in that split second of memories. Almost every picture captured happiness. All brought smiles to the subjects faces and certainly to mine.
Every time I go to Walker, we pass a picture of my father which is hanging on the wall. He is young, happy and working hard at his Dairy Queen. Every time we walk by, I look at that photo and send so much love his way. It is a comfort.
Picture Day at an elementary school sends the students into a frenzy of excitement! The photos taken today will, most likely, take a journey of their own. First, they will be framed or displayed on the fridge. Eventually, they will find their way into a photo gallery for graduation parties. Although these precious mementos are treasured for a time, they will eventually find their way into a box for someone to go through. That’s OK. Even if they are not in the “Keep Pile," the memories of that vacation, celebration or other happy time will live on in the hearts of those who were there or recognized the person in the photo. With the contagious smiles evident on every face in a snapshot, who could resist smiling back? Perhaps, that’s enough.
