the now

my family is gathering to celebrate my mother's 90th birthday in a couple of weeks. as many of us that can make it will be there. it will be a wonderful celebration. something to look forward to. while we are at the party we will drink in the love and the laughter, enjoy the food and reconnect with family not often enough seen. we will live in the now, on that day. 

all too soon, the day will pass and weeks, months and years will go by. it will become a memory, captured in our hearts and most likely captured in photos. 

living in the now is a concept we hear about all the time for it's importance to all of us. we are told, "live in the now", love the moment, share your love. easier said than done, at least for me. my mind is always thinking of the next thing i have to do or worrying about things i can't do anything about. so hard to remember to stop. pause. take a breath. center your heart and your mind. just be. now.

so, the party for my mom ... everyone is asked to bring two photos of her that they love and want to share. i am sitting surrounded by a pile of photo albums (remember them?) dating back decades ago. the photos bring up so much for me. lots of good memories, but, oh, how bittersweet. my adorable kids with there silly faces and gap-toothed grins are now grown and have families of their own. the photos of my first apartment as a newlywed with it's garish wallpaper,the faces of the generation before mine, now long gone but still missed,  and, my dogs. from puppies to senior dogs, loved, and lost.  i can smile at their images now. couldn't for a long time.

my business is pet photography. the mission statement is 'moments to memories' ... because that's what life is. and, it's important. 

the dog you see is sergeant ... he was my first yellow lab and this photo was taken exactly sixteen years before my sam was born, june 10, 1994. sergeant lived to the age of thirteen and i loved him every single one of those days. i hope i spent most of those days living in the now with him.