I grew up in a young family. My mom had me young, my grandma had her young, my great-grandma had her young…you get the idea. As a matter of fact, after I had my daughter Mallory, we had 5 generations for 6 or 7 years before Great Grandma (my kids GREAT GREAT Grandma) passed away. My Grandma always looked young for her age…genes I hope to inherit… but it was around my 30’s that I had to come to terms that they were aging and slowly transforming before our eyes-it’s unescapable. Something every generation before us has also experienced.
This conversation topic is so rare but things change quickly and slowly and it can be hard and heavy and confusing. But the truth is, many of us adult children are so busy growing up that we forget that our parents/grandparents are growing old at the same time. Just enough small change each month that we hardly noticed until one day it smacks you in the face. “Anticipatory Grief “I believe is what they call it. Someday, I know my own children may experience this as I begin to age. There’s something so humbling about it. One of the reasons I picked up a camera in the first place.
Photographs are the only way I know how to freeze that time. Shoots like the one below of Amanda and her grandpa really fill my cup. It’s the meaningful ones, the raw emotion, the real life…..just the way we want to freeze it and remember it always.
I never shared these images until now. As a matter of fact, these images were shot a little over a year ago roughly 6 months before Amanda’s wedding. I didn’t want to post them anywhere for fear that someone would see her dress before her walk down the aisle. Grandpa wasn’t in the greatest health and with the wedding taking place out of state in Delaware, the traveling would have been too difficult for him. These two have such a close relationship that it was important to her for him to see her in her dress. On a very bitter day in October, I traveled out to her family property so that she could have that “first look” moment with her Grandpa. He reminded me so much of my own “Pappy” that had passed away not too long before this-so this was such a full circle moment for me….but I know it was even more special for her. I held the camera so close to my face so that no one else would see me crying.
So right there under a covered bridge on the family property, in his Marine Corps hat, his cane and belt buckle, he was the first person who got to see his beautiful granddaughter in her wedding gown. And there were tears. Lots of tears.
These were such beautiful moments and I think it’s time for the world to see them. I know they’ll make you smile.
This is your reminder that as the holiday is approaching, take photos of the people you love. Even if their outfits don’t coordinate. Even if it’s not aesthetic. Even if the house isn’t clean. Even if you put on a few extra pounds….be in the photos. Exist in the photos with the people you love because some day, when the image is all that they have left to hold, I promise you, they won’t care about those things at all. They just want to see you.
They will be the least meaningful the day they are taken…..they gain so much more value and meaning with time. And as time moves on, whether we like it or not, the photographs won’t age, even if the people in them do.
