Fast forward to a time when my hair is gray and my bones are weaker. A time were I look back on the days filled with glory and sorrow. Times when mountains felt like forever to climb. When life sometimes just flew by. Today on this day I sit here in my rocking chair. With my loves hand within mine. We look upon the sunset in the distance. We sip sweat tea and reflect upon our lives. As we flip threw our photo albums. We always kept things simple when it came to our photos. We liked them right were we could always see them and hold them near. As we turn the pages we see a lifetime of memories. Some good, some grande and many that became a blur. But because of these photos we have a refresher of those times. A great laugh or two. I'm grateful for these photos. They bring such an amazing feeling over us. They always held a power beyond words. They always did something I thought would be tough to do. They speak volumes without even speaking. I am filled with butterflies all over again.
Looking back. I see all the great people we meet and the lives that we have touched. Every business client we meet . Not only became a client but a part of our family. As the years went by all the bonds that we created along the way seemed to blossom. For what we did was not only capture a beautiful moment in time and freeze it. But we left a piece of us with them. A piece of self worth. Reminding them that everytime that they looked at that beautiful photo of themselves. That they felt self worth. Pride. Joy and strength. Threw the years I never knew how much I was truly leaving behind with others. Until one day. I had the courage to finally put a show together of our work. We rented out a large studio and held it on a summer night. I can recall it clear as day. We served light refreshments and the room had a light breeze coming within the room. Each wall had a single canvas photo on it. I was surrounded by all things I loved. My emotions were filled up with joy. A feeling that was something I never thought I could feel before. I felt overwhelmed with joy. Until it happened. You see that night we invited all of our clients. And then some to come to our studio night. We all mingled and held great conversation over the photos. Recalling memories that arose from looking at the photos.
That night I took the mic and thanked everyone for attending that it meant so much to us. As doing so. A few clients stepped forward and asked to say a few words. One gentleman named charles stepped forward. He held the mic and I stepped back to listen with the rest of the crowd. " You see I meet Kristina, at a difficult time in my life. A time when I didn't believe within myself. When I was thinking unhealthy thoughts. My wife and I separated. And I only seen my children every other month. It was heart breaking. I scheduled a shoot. With my kids and I. The day of the shoot I thought it would just be a regular shoot. Then I would part with my kids yet again. In our shoot Kristina interacted with us on such a fun spirited vibe. That my worries drifted in that time. When parting with my kids. Kristina had stepped aside with me and said I promise that you will never need to part with your kids. Your kids are always with you. As she handed me a candid photo of us all laughing together." She gave me something in the mist of sorrow. She gave me the moment in time of laughter shared with my children. Till this day I still carry it in my wallet. It always brings me joy.
Hearing this man. Brought tears of joy to my eyes. One after the other. Said a small speech about the photography. This whole time I was taking photos. I was doing more than just making a negative into a positive. I was developing memories. Leaving hope and happiness in others lives. I was living in many homes of others. I hung over fireplaces. I sat bedside on a night stand. I hung in windows of businesses. I was all around. I was creating life . For anytime you looked over at a photo that I captured. I was giving them a feeling. An emotion. And looking back now. I realize that what I did in life was I breathed life into my photos. I left a part of me in all of my work.
As I sit back and rock on this chair. I can not help but be proud. For what I did was create something amazing. And freeze it in time. I always knew that photos were great. Because of the fact that its the only thing that stays the same. Even when the people in them change. My eyes brought beauty. As I look over the sunset at its lowest point. I exhale. Life is amazing. I am glad that I lived a life filled with many moments that slowed down to enjoy them.
poem
As you stand here over me
know that my body is here but my soul is set free
As you stand here over me
know that I will always be here with you
As you stand over me
know that you are starting to creep me out...
As you stand over me
know that I copywrited all of my work
As you stand over me
know that pictures last longer. you may just wanna take one
as you stand over me
know that if you look up you may just see me in the clouds
As you stand over me
know that you may of just looked like a fool looking for me in the clouds
As you stand over me
Please can you stop standing over me
I live within all the memories we made together. Please process
I will be right back
