A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Those of you that regularly follow my blog know that my family and I are in the process of packing up all our worldly possessions to move to a new state in just a couple of months. My dear husband is in Ohio overseeing our house being built, while I am back here in Tennessee packing. Yesterday, while sitting cross legged on my living room floor, with pictures and various keepsakes piled all around me, I had one of those thoughtful moments. As I scanned through my pictures I was overwhelmed. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I clutched the pictures of my life tightly in my hands. An incredible feeling of love swept over me as I looked at the faces of the people that are so close to my heart. There was my Nannan. She has been gone for 20 years now....but for a minute she was there with me, on that first day of October. I was brought back to our conversations about Autumn and my love of the change of season....our conversations about the weather and temperature patterns flitted through my mind. I have such good memories of my grandmother. I continued to scan through pictures and saw the faces of my family members. My aunt in a red wooly sweater (that she probably got for one of her famous discounts), my cousins at various family get togethers that seem like they were just yesterday. My mom at her college graduation, and my sister holding her newborn baby. The smiling faces of my little nieces....Oh, and the pictures I have of my sweet little boy.....his little face at 3 weeks old, his giggly smile at two, his Christmas pictures at four, his sports pictures throughout the years....the emotion of how very much I love him was almost too overwhelming for me to take in. I came across the pictures that I had at my late husband's funeral. Pictures from his life that my sister had helped organize into a frame. His smiling face haunted my thoughts. He has been gone for eight years next month and in many ways it seems like a lifetime ago. There was a picture of us on our wedding day in July of 1992. I looked at that picture and it seems like I'm looking at a stranger. That young girl had no idea what lay ahead of her. What she would endure in the years to come. What strength she would need. I gazed at pictures of myself. The tan, and slender blonde that was a college co-ed. The silly girl with her arms around her friends. The young mother with a baby on her hip. The devoted wife to a terminally ill husband. The school teacher with her students, the step mom. Then on top of the pile I have new pictures. I have pictures of my step children. My daughter in her fourth grade class picture, my son dressed in his hockey gear. A picture of my in laws, who lovingly treat me as one of their own children. I have pictures of my new husband on our very first, meeting you for the first time picture. We both have goofy smiles on our face. I have the handsome picture that we had taken at our wedding where we look like we could be the couple on top of the wedding cake. The fun pictures, the goofy pictures, the happy pictures. The pictures of my life. Oh, how I have been blessed. The people that have touched my life and who are forever caught on film, trapped in time, and locked in my heart. So, many times I take my life for granted....expecting that tomorrow will always come. But the truth is sometimes it doesn't. I should never take any of these people that have so profoundly touched my life for granted. I was reminded of all the relationships that are dear to me yesterday as I sat there on the floor surrounded by my life. My cup runneth over and for that I am so very grateful.