Treasured Photos

Last Sunday, during the long hours before 1 p.m. church, Ben and I discovered some old pictures of mine that were stuffed in a box under our bed. It was so fun to reminisce and I smiled to remember the parts of my life captured in these snapshots. I think it was also a little weird for Ben to see that his parents had lives before he was born. I love making memories and photos are a big part of that. If I go somewhere, I'd rather have a picture to remember it than a trinket or souvenir. We have a running joke in my family about how many pictures we take, but I look back at these and others and they are priceless.

Fast forward: For part of our date night tonight, Andy and I went to Best Buy to look at digital cameras. I got money for one for Christmas, but hadn't taken the time to research options and find what I want. We've had the same old clunky digicam for 5+ years with a shutter that no longer closes, a painfully slow response time that lets us take about one picture every minute, and a lens featuring a permanent grease spot that leaves shadows on the pictures. Part of my hangup with blogging is that our camera is so outdated and has poor picture quality and non user-friendly uploading. I can't wait to get a new camera to capture more wonderful memories.

This is a picture of my dad how I remember him best: Healthy, vibrant, active, and out in nature. Although he never completed more than the basic scouting badges, he loved the great outdoors and worked as a Scoutmaster for most of my growing up years. One of my favorite memories with him was when he took me, my sister, and younger brother on a 30-mile backpacking trip along the Pacific Crest Trail when I was 12 or so. He managed to be high school valedictorian even though he frequently skipped school to go skiing and often took solo hikes in the high Uinta mountains in Utah when he was home from college. He worked in the fields as a pineapple picker in Hawaii for one summer and was an avid runner before life got busy with multiple kids and work demands. He loved dogs and after we got two of them for my seventh birthday, he and I often walked them together. This picture reminded me that I get my health-conscious, outdoorsy, adventurous, eco-friendly attributes from my dad.

My mom will kill me for posting this picture and her lovely mid-80s hairdo, but it just captured the joy of childhood (love the smile on my sister Nanette's face), as well as the sacrifices of motherhood. Being in the midst of raising small children, it's often exhausting, frustrating and overwhelming. There are six kids in my family and I appreciate all my mom did to create the opportunities, experiences, and memories we have that helped us become who we are today and continue to keep us close, even though we're spread far apart age-wise and geographically. It inspires me to create special moments for Ben and Lucy and to find the grandeur in the everyday parts of life. Side note: As I look at the picture, I can't for the life of me figure out what I'm holding in my hand (I'm the one with the scraggly hair in the blue shirt.) Ten points to anyone who can identify the mystery object.

This picture encourages me to hold onto my dreams, passions, and talents even though they might take a different form at this stage of life or have to be put on hold for a while. I've always loved people, writing, and learning about the world and found journalism/public relations to be a good fit. After Utah State, I attended the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University for my master's degree. Each year Uncle Walter (as I like to refer to him) came for an awards ceremony honoring a current media figure and a special roundtable with students, where this picture was taken. Even though I'm still waiting for Katie Couric (or Diane Sawyer, for that matter) to call me to sub for them, I want to keep that side of me alive and hopefully get to do freelance work as a writer (The Wall Street Journal or a travel-related publication would be fun) or PR person, teach communications courses as an adjunct professor, or maybe even try to do something for a local NPR affiliate. This picture also makes me want to cut my hair short again. I loved how easy it was to take care of, but not sure if I can survive the akward growing-out phase.


What treasured memories have you had recently?