As I sit here in a near turkey-coma after a weekend filled with laughter, eating, and spending quality time with family, friends and loved ones I find myself really diving into the things that make me the most thankful.
I think for most of us, we are often the most thankful for the people in our lives that we hold near and dear to our hearts.
Of all the things in life that we have the opportunity to gain and achieve, it's our closest relationships that we value the most and that hold the highest spot on our "What Are You Thankful For This Year" checklists.
It's always the time of year where we start to reminisce about "back when" and "remember that one time". Uncles and Aunts comment on how much their nieces and nephews have grown, and even for those who weren't able to make it to the family gathering are fondly mentioned and thought of amidst the family event of feasting, game-playing and bonding.
For me, I found great joy in whipping out some old photos of the family and we all laughed and giggled over "how young we used to look" and "look how tiny Sydney was" just a couple years ago.
We stumbled across photos of loved ones that had passed on, and as we flipped through those photos it wasn't so much a sad memory of those loved ones, but more of a beautiful time of sharing beautiful memories of those people and how they brought joy into our lives.
Photos are valuable. Pictures are priceless.
They have the uncanny ability to bring about the fondest of memories and bring back the emotions we experienced during that stage in our lives. We think back to what our little ones' voices sounded like. The way their baby lips formed adorable little pouts; that favourite little outfit that has been long-since been outgrown. The warmth of mom & dad's embrace when the world seemed so big and yet so much more simple in the eyes of a child. And just how much the newest little member of the family looks SO much like their dad when he was a little boy.
They bring together families that have since moved and built lives in other parts of the world, still tying the family together with precious, frozen bits of time perfectly framed inside a tiny window of that moment.
We do not understand that value of a moment until it is gone.
I love photography. Not just in the art and the freedom to create something with it. I truly love that part. But I love the deeper meaning behind them, in that they truly are so precious. And maybe for some, the best part about Thanksgiving is creating new memories with game-playing, talking, and catching up with family members. But, for me, the real fun begins when the photo albums come out and the memories start flowing.
For myself, this Thanksgiving, I am thankful for:
- my beautiful family (of course, because where & what would I be without them?)
- my home, where we create beautiful memories and live in comfort
- my job, where I meet beautiful faces and celebrate life's BEST gifts with families
- my craft, not just capturing moments but letting the beauty that the camera sees radiate as a perfect, vibrant portraits of personality, colour and emotion
- my freedom, and being able to choose the paths I want to take in my life
I'm sure I could sit here and write out a list a mile long about all the things I am thankful for. Things that are deep and meaningful, along with things small but enjoyable in my life (like tacos and Netflix!)
But, perhaps most of all apart from my loving husband and three beautiful children, I am thankful for photographs. With them, the past seems just a little bit closer and the future even more exciting. And I can indulge in all those precious, wonderful memories over and over again for as long as I live, and pass them down the line when my time on this earth is said and done.
I'm thankful for the gift of being able to exist for my children, even if in the form of a photo, for my children and grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
I'm thankful to give them bits of their lives and their youth for years to come. To when now becomes "back then", and my descendants gather around the Thanksgiving table and flip through old photos.
Thankful for back then. Thankful for right now. And thankful for what's to come.
0 Comments