It had started as just one. A small flowering tree was almost hidden in the tangle of reaching-for-the-sunlight growth along the highway. I took a quick shot, but it didn’t really capture the white blossoms that I was seeing.
Soon they were everywhere. On the way home I pulled over to snap a photo of three blossoming pear trees standing tall in the neighborhood next to ours, but it was an overcast day. As I recalled, last year’s views had looked so much more majestic with a bright blue sky behind them.
And then a few days ago was a perfectly beautiful Spring day! As I rounded the bend to enter the Interstate, the scene took my breath away. It was as if a natural canopy of white had been created to arch over the road. What seemed like hundreds of trees of various ages greeted everyone on that curve with unexpected beauty. I was one of those whose heart swelled at the sight.
I wanted to capture that!
But there was no shoulder to pull over into and cars were whizzing past, so a don’t-do-this-at-home photo from the car was out of the question.
Disappointed…I missed out…
Now nobody will get to see or feel what I just experienced.
Wrong.
As I build my Legacy of Memories, there are lots of brief jottings that have lackluster photos (or no photos) alongside. Just because the “perfect” photo doesn’t happen, you can still capture and share the heart-touching experiences of life with others.
Those that take your breath away. And those that make you laugh out loud.
Like a few years ago when our youngest grandson opened a bright colored Easter egg with a capital L (for Lincoln). He thought he was the only one to have received a roll of Smarties. After asking Pawpaw what the candy’s name was, he gleefully shouted to the rest of the egg-hunting cousins, “Look, I got farties!”
While I couldn’t capture that exact moment, this posed photo my husband Chris took does the job of reminding me of the whole day’s experiences and how much fun we had doing our family thing, together.
Even without a photo or video, Lincoln’s comment is already woven into the fabric of our Family Memory Collage (now preserved as part of our mini-stories collection) and we’ll continue to laugh about it together for generations!
So, don’t despair if you miss out on the “perfect” shot. Don’t put off jotting about the moment anyway. All that’s needed is to carry the memory with you until you can start writing about it.
Once that’s done, it doesn’t really matter if you keep the photo attached to the story or not. (I like to, because it often seems that more memories have a funny way of popping up when I look at it again or while reminiscing with others about it later.)
Let’s give it a try this month and let me know how that feels…
JOYfully jotting,
Katie
Family PhotoStory Curator
Mini-Stories Writing Coach
Your Legacy of Memories Mentor
Capturing Mini-Moments That Matter…
Energizing & Connecting Families for Generations!