Pictures: They last a lifetime

Take all the pictures.

These days, we always have a camera in our hands — we snap photos of our food, our vacations, and post them constantly. But it wasn’t always like that.

When my kids were younger, if you wanted to capture a moment, you had to have a camera ready — and someone to take the photo. While going through pictures for this website, I realized something that hit me hard: I could only find a handful of photos of Max and me together.

There were plenty of photos of him by himself, with his sister, or with his dad. But not with me. Selfies weren’t a thing back then, and I was always the one behind the camera, rarely in front of it.

When I noticed that, it stopped me in my tracks. Actually, let’s be honest — I cried. No, I sobbed.

Why hadn’t I made sure to get in more photos with him? Why was I always the one documenting the moment instead of being part of it?

Then it hit me — and it hit hard:

We would never have another photo together.

After half an hour of ugly crying, I pulled myself together and looked through the rest of that thumb drive. I felt so much gratitude for all the other memories — photos of both of our kids, moments I’ll cherish forever.

And that’s my point:

Be in the pictures.

Take all the pictures you can, with the people you love. You never know when you won’t get the chance to take another.