Monday, February 22, 2010

My, How You've Grown

A good snapshot stops a moment from running away.
Eudora Welty


I've spent some time the last couple weeks gathering childhood photos of my future daughter-in-law and son. My friends are hosting a wedding shower for them and my job is to put together photos of their lives.

Once upon a time I put all photos into albums as soon as they came back from the store. Then somewhere around the third child, boxes became the holding place for those captured memories. Pulling out box after box, I cursed my neglect. But I found myself lingering over the photos of each son, my mind tracing the timeline of each photo as I recalled the exact moments the shutter clicked on the camera.

And, then, reminded of the purpose, choosing the photos of my oldest son. That boy who was just born a couple years ago, or so it seems.

28 comments:

  1. That must be fun and sad at the same time. It has only been a few years since our oldest son was born, and Iook back the old photos and try to imagine him being that small.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have fifteen chronological albums that I pull out at least once a year to laugh and cry my way thru. But this last year, since I got my digital camera, everything is here on the computer, and it's just not the same as touching the actual photo. My daughter put together the photo collage for her wedding, and I just stood there staring at it, marveling at how far she had come from that day she was born! And it's funny how many photos of she and her guy looked identical!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm sure you'll get a lot of pleasure from doing this - and it's a pretty nice thing to do be doing for your son and his sweetheart.
    Your story is pretty typical of multi-kid families - mine included. Have fun, Julie. Don't get too choked.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I can see your grown son's handsome face in his baby photo! My 3rd child appears in more group photos than the first two.

    ReplyDelete
  5. The painful beauty of a mother's memories...letting our little birds go, remembering when they were just fledglings and we fulfilled their every need, and now someone else will fill our role. Wondering what our new role will be in their lives? Laughing through the pictures and memories of times together, and how much love they inspired in us. I can't get over how amazing it is to be a Mom. Enjoy this trip down memory lane!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my what a beautiful baby boy turned into such a handsome man.

    Enjoy your memories as you make your way through the boxes, I think we all have a box or two of photo's.

    Stay well my friend.....:-) Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  7. I can so relate to these thoughts. Where did my little children go...

    ReplyDelete
  8. What a nice thing to do for the young couple...and for yourself! A rite of passage, you could say.

    ReplyDelete
  9. From cute to handsome. What a bittersweet time this must be for you in so many ways. What a year.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love that photo of your son and the older generation in the passenger seat. Wow. This is a good reminder to me to get my photos organized as the years are zooming by. I am on pins and needles waiting to hear more about marrying off a son. You are a wonderful MIL to-be!

    ReplyDelete
  11. That'll be a great keepsake for them. They do grow so fast, don't they?

    ReplyDelete
  12. Tell me its so scary my 14 year old fell asleep in the car next to me last night and brought back so many memories of him when he was a baby travelling along side me xx

    ReplyDelete
  13. Yes, definitely take the time to relive those wonderful memories. And congratulations on the upcoming union!

    ReplyDelete
  14. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful photos of your baby boy! Time does go much too fast. I always said the days could seem very, very long at times, but the years always just flew by.

    ReplyDelete
  16. It's times like this that make you realize just how quickly time goes. Enjoy your reminiscing.

    ReplyDelete
  17. It seems that everyone else got to see the baby picture. It's not loading for me. I'll have to try it again.
    Congratulations on your growing family!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Those two photos tell the whole story and kind of make me sob a little inside...it doesn't seem quick in the midst of it all, but then they come out the other side, don't they, these kids of ours?

    ReplyDelete
  19. They do grow up fast, don't they. I sometimes dream of my daughter, a student at San Diego State, as a kindergartner or first grader. My dream self can't keep up.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Isn't it crazy that life passes so quickly and babies become men while we still know nothing?

    ReplyDelete
  21. I made a similar collage for my daughter's wedding video. It really makes for a nice keepsake. Time does seem to fly by! Have a great weekend, cher!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I especially liked these words of yours: "I recalled the exact moments the shutter clicked on the camera."

    Cute baby photo.

    http://caffeinatedglobe.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  23. The time does fly past too quickly, doesn't it? I have neglected my historian duties too. So much so that at one point, D1 had D2 convinced that she was adopted as a toddler because I didn't have her baby album done. She was 8. EEK. Enjoy this time as you reflect and bring all those memories to the surface. Enjoy the journey.

    ReplyDelete
  24. They grow up so fast but they grow up so well.

    Such a lovely bridal shower today! Your friends are wonderful hosts.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I have recently sorted through some old photos, for a different reason to you. Where does the time go?

    ReplyDelete
  26. A bittersweet project, with a most happy result! From beautiful baby to handsome young man in the blink of an eye ( I suspect a personality to match. No tears, now). I think you can congratulate yourself on a job well done!

    ReplyDelete
  27. I had to repack boxes of photos for our move. Photos that were so precious that it was difficult to do the job quickly.

    Congrats on the happy upcoming moment. so huge.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Greetings!
    I just stopped by from The Adventures of Fred and Ethel to say thanks for visiting and commenting on my post about Henrietta Lacks, but I found myself reading so many of your posts; I identify! Both my children have left home and married within the past 14 months, so I well know the emptiness you're feeling, and this post in particular hit me hard. I did a video montage for our daughter's wedding, with photos of both she and her young man growing through the years; my husband helped me get started with a program we already had installed (I am soooo computer illiterate) and I did the rest, timing the picture progressions to three songs - Baby Mine, by Allison Krauss, the original Disney When You Wish Upon a Star, and ending with another Allison Krauss, a remake of an old Beatles tune, I Will. I cried all the way through the making of it, and the tissue box I set out for guests was EMPTY, but they all loved it, and we had many, many requests for copies.
    I also identified with your post about shopping for the dress, as I definitely had my trials there. When, where, etc. is the wedding? And, are you ready?
    I'll be back!

    ReplyDelete

Let me know what you think. Every word you write, I appreciate.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails