snapshot

No excuses, I have been shamefully absent from writing in this space. In my defense I have been in every state in the midwest, but still, I am sorry.

As I write I'm sitting in a sanctuary of sorts for me, Panera Bread. I take great delight in working on my laptop while enjoying a bagel and a cup of a smooth hazelnut coffee. This morning I chose a table that I spent countless hours at in college studying, reading and wasting time on facebook. My thoughts drift back to my friends Alyssa and Cassie who were battling college alongside me and were often my amigos at this table in the loft of the Grandville Panera.

As I sit here I am working on my cousin's slideshow for her wedding in two days. I am so thrilled to be here to celebrate with her and her new Husband Ryan and I find such amazing perspective in looking through picture of them from birth to their engagement photo shoot a few months ago. There is something grounding about looking through snapshots that span the life of someone you love. We often do this at the biggies, you know birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, weddings and funerals. Watching the screen as a person changes in pictures from a pink brand new baby to a ethereally beautiful bride never ceases to astound me. And so many of the moments on the screen were just days in the life of that person. Many of the memories we collect in our lives are so random aren't they? You and the people you interact with daily never know when you are forming a memory that will place itself permanently in the memory of your life.

A little ordinary moment from my childhood, just three little girls on a picnic table in matching teddy bear sweatshirts that turned out to be the kind of picture you put in a frame on your piano and in a wedding slideshow.

My good friend Becky says that she measures a photo by whether or not it is wedding slideshow worthy and will often rank my kids pictures by this standard. It is so beautiful that the little moments you and I will have today are brushstrokes on the canvas of each other's life. Doesn't it make you want to breathe in today a little deeper? For me I want to look at life in this way more often, not just at the biggie slideshow worthy events but on a random Wednesday morning. To look at my marriage and the lives of my children with awe and respect. What we are building with our hours and days is monumental and these lives we lead make a deeper impact on the world than we will ever now.

I start today with awe and more than anything a deep gratitude and respect that I have been given the gift of being a wife, a mother, a sister, a niece and a friend.