I fell in love again last night.He is blond and blue-eyed. Not usually my type.
But, covered head to toe in vibrant swaths and splotches of paint, splatters of color bursting from his soul, I fell in love.
When I saw him, frozen in time, he wore only a diaper and was holding a paint brush. Those eyes. And that little turn at the corner of his mouth. I could tell the giggles were about to erupt – just as soon as he determined that his most recent masterpiece met with Mama’s approval.
Sure enough, the next image showed his mama, head thrown back in laughter. The next, her squatting on the ground, arms outstretched as he ran toward her. Then a series of additional freeze-frames as she held him and spun about.
Finally, a glimpse at her white shirt, now part of his canvas.
I fell in love with them, with their joy and their adoration of one another. That mama is clearly his biggest fan, the little artist’s number one patron, but I became a close second when their story sprang to life before me.
I am fickle in this love life of mine. I give it freely and receive dividends in abundance.
Only days before falling in love with the be speckled master artist, age three and a half, it was a beautiful mom – a woman about my age. A woman whom I know in the three-dimensional real life to be a thriving, kind humanitarian who loves fiercely and gives of herself ceaselessly. She is defined by wanderlust, athleticism, supreme love for her family, and incomparable loyalty to her friends.
I know these truths about her. I have always loved her for these reasons, but I found myself falling in love with her all over again as I poured over the freeze-frames of her life.
In her little girl face, I could see all the joy and devotion and curiosity for life that she carries with her now. As I moved through the images, I saw her evolution from the beautiful baby to the little girl with big brown eyes and impish grin. I saw her as daddy’s little gir
l and could feel her grief anew at having lost him a few years ago.
As I watched her grow, my love for her grew. My friend who helped to carry me through one of my darkest times was revealed to me in a beautiful way through the boxes of photos her mother entrusted to me.
Before that, it was a child whose drag show costumes are impressive. Their beautiful mama captures it all on video and in pictures. I know this little family to be unwaveringly devoted to exploration and fun and heritage but most of all to each other. I loved them from the very first image.
But then it happened, the one that made my heart explode.
This child with curly brown hair bursting from my screen with all the sparkle and magic that a soul can exude. Their mom does such an exquisite job of capturing their stories that one scroll through their frozen moments would leave anyone feeling their love, knowing its perfection.
Step back with me a few more weeks, and my love was channeled to a woman who lived until the age of 90.
My first glimpse of her was in a church directory photo. Lovely.
Then the obituary. Loved.
Then the stories – the family cabin, the fur coat she borrowed for a special date, the births of her children, the mortgage documents showing payments of less than $20 monthly. As her story unfolded before me, I fell in love with her dreams, her passion for hiding away at the cabin with her loves, her joy as she and her husband achieved goals and dreams.
From her beautiful hopeful smile as a young woman to her beautiful contented smile as a much older woman, I loved her in every image, and her daughter who shared her beloved mother with me – I loved her too for trusting me with her mother’s stories, for allowing me to guide her through the celebration of her mother’s life, a journey that resulted in great strides in her grieving process and healing family divides.
How could I not love them all when what we did together was so powerful?
And one more love story.
This one is exceptional. I found it in letters. Fragile browning paper with worn edges. Fold lines softening the texture and making the handling of them even more daunting for me.
As I untied the first ribbon and pulled a letter from its envelope, I held my breath. This is where their story began. Not with a text or a swipe right. It started with a sweaty palm holding a pen to paper as he furrowed his brow and considered how to address her, what to tell the lovely yo
ung woman he had met only days before boarding a ship to serve in World War I.
I was captivated by their exchange. My heart gushed when I got to the third and fourth and fifth bundles and discovered that they had continued their letter writing until his death. They documented and professed their love for each other from the age of 18 until his death at 81. Their letter writing and their love spanned seven decades. Seven.
This work that I do is all about the stories, the love, the evolutions, the grief and the joy. Every time a client – friend, family, or stranger – shares their stories with me, I fall in love with the images, the words, the video.
Some days, there is abundant joy. Other times, we face grief and loss. But we do it together.
I have physically held the head of a client who simply no longer had the strength to do it herself. I have allowed them to feign anonymity when they didn’t want to explore their grief until they could see what was captured on the film reels we were digitizing. I have laughed at the antics of puppies and children. I have clapped and gasped as they shared their blessings, celebrations, and triumphs.
Whether the client and I make a personal connection or not, whether I ever hear from them again or not, I hold their stories in my heart. I see their images. I can visualize their faces when they hand me a bag or a box or a thumb drive filled with what defines them – their look of hope that I will help them to make their stories last FOREVER. After all, we all long for immortality. My job enables me to grant that desire.
I am fickle in this love life of mine, and I cannot wait to fall in love again.
#DanisPixelPlace #DanisPixelChix #PhotosMatter #PhotoMatters #APlaceForEveryPixel #EveryPixelTellsAStory #PhotoStorage #CloudStorage #DigitalStorage #PhotoOrganization #PhotoEditing #FamilyHistoryPreservation #FOREVERStorage #FOREVER #FOREVERApp #FOREVERAmbassador #BusinessProductivity #IncreasedEfficiency #CyberSecurity #NoMonthlyFees #OwnDontRent #FOREVERFamilyHistoryResearch #FOREVERBox #DigitizeVHS #ConvertVHS #MakeYourWallsTalk #Cards #SnailMailRocks