This entry was posted on Sunday, November 14th, 2010 at 10:09 am and is filed under Family Stuff, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
We all, at some point, experience “The Photo”. It comes out of the blue, late at night after an exhausting day of camping or hiking or playing. The interesting thing about “The Photo” is that, when it is being taken, it looks no different than any of the other 8000 photos we take in a year.
No, “The Photo” becomes “The Photo” late at night, hunched over a laptop after the kids are in bed and the digital camera import is complete. It different for everyone, and not all of one’s friends or family will even understand why it is “The Photo.” It happens when, with tired eyes, you scroll through the day’s activities and suddenly stop on a picture of your child with her friend. You freeze on that picture, innocent in its subject matter and composition, but so full of meaning that it brings a lump to your throat. As you gaze at your daughter’s face, your mind rewinds through her life at lightning speed; the 3.6 lb tangle of wires and monitors in the hospital, the first step, the first kiss, and the first “I love you, daddy”. The Photo makes your stomach twist into knots of pride and heartache, and provides digital documentation in full color that your life, and more importantly, hers, is moving so fast that you have’t even noticed what she has grown into.
The Photo makes your eyes tear up slightly, and forces you to tiptoe to her room, quietly open the door, and gaze at her not-so-tiny sleeping frame in her not-so-tiny bed, pausing to watch her breathe for a few minutes before gently kissing her cheek and pulling up her covers, with a gentle brush of her hair and a whispered “I love you, baby.”
Everyone has The Photo somewhere and they all different, yet all the same in message and meaning. The Photo is a reminder to enjoy every single minute of your daughter’s life together, because before you know it she will be someone else’s.
Slow down, baby girl, I don’t want you to grow up on me yet.
-Matt
RedSparks.com
November 14th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
As the mother of that adorable boy with your little girl I say “beautiful.” Hearing him tell me and my husband about his “sweetie” makes me cringe and think the same way…”slow down my darling baby boy and let me hold you and enjoy you a little longer.”
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November 15th, 2010 at 5:32 am
I am just in shock and awe to see a post on The Playpen! I totally know what you mean though-and it really doesn’t matter how tightly you try to hold them, it will all be over so fast that you will be reeling. Trust me on that one.
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November 18th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Who’s the emo?
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Mami Reply:
December 6th, 2010 at 7:58 pm
Someone better looking than you are!
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