Team Turner: Snapshots

Its time. To write, to tell, to remember.

Life is going by so quickly, ask any one. It’s a resounding cry among the first- day of school parents. “It goes so fast!" "Treasure these days!" "Blink and they’ll be in high-school.” Some days like today, I feel all the G-forces of being on this crazy ride. Gravity is pulling at my face, as we ride this merry-go-round planet around and around the sun. It’s so repetitive and yet each turn is unique. It’s hard to differentiate between a special moment and one that happens every day – until it doesn’t happen every day. Birthday’s that keep happening every year until they just don’t one year. Then what? Did we do what we wanted to do? Did we do what we were put here to do?

How can we make it stop?

Does every body have a historian in their family? This is the person who never forgets the camera. The one who says “Everyone line up!” and takes the shot. What ever happens to those photos? Do we ever even see them? Does this historian set them behind archival quality glass in the family museum? Of course not! They’re generally terrible pictures, aren’t they? To dark or too bright, someone’s eyes are always closed. Inevitably someone takes a quick break from his or her bad attitude, baby melt down or spousal argument to smile for a quick second.

The gift the historian gives us in that moment is far more beautiful than any photo. The camera is just a tool, just an excuse. What if I could say, “Stop! Everyone look over here!” For a moment we could all take a break from what we’re doing, from the arguments of the day, and look around at each other. We could stand shoulder to shoulder as a united front. We could say to ourselves, “this moment is special, these are the people I love, and despite what irritations are going on, I am truly happy. I’m satisfied in this moment.”

So next time my sweet husband pulls out the camera, instead of rolling my eyes, or checking my phone to see how late we are, I’m going to take a deep breath, look at the faces around me and make memories to go along with those photos.

Occasionally these photos do turn out great, and I need to find a way to honor these memories. There is no better way to do that than to share them. I need to document these seemingly repetitive, possibly mundane moments. It needs to matter that they happened.

This Happened! I was here! And it was great!

Christie