A family painting is a one-of-a-kind piece of art that captures the essence of your family. It can be a great way to remember special moments in your family’s history or simply to celebrate the love and bond that you share. Portraits capture memories, document growth, and they show the world our most cherished relationships. For some people, family portraits are a way to remember a loved one who has passed away. For others, they’re a way to document the changes in their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
When our daughter Jennifer was growing up, I took many photographs of her, and from time to time, I enjoy looking through the photos. I remember the sweet little girl I was privileged to watch grow into the amazing woman that she has become.
Yesterday, Ricky and I were looking for some important documents, which we were thankfully able to locate, but in the process, I came across several sets of photographs. I came across our wedding photographs. As I hurriedly flipped through the pages, I had the opportunity to recall the young adults in those photos from almost 44 years ago. Most of the people in those photos are still among the living, but some have already gone on to heaven.
Ricky’s grandmothers were in the photos and have both since departed. Also, both sets of our parents have now gone on. I couldn’t help thinking about my brother Neal, who died at the age of 29, leaving a young wife and two very young children. And then there was Angie Kendall King, who also died too young of that dreaded disease, cancer. How happy I am that I have those photos to look at from time to time and remember them.
Our wedding party, the groomsmen and bridesmaids, like us, were so young and vibrant, but 44 years later, we have seen many changes not only in our appearances but also in our status in life.
Some have moved on in life to other places, and I never see them. Some have married and divorced (some several times), and most have changed jobs a few times.
In those photos were two former Sisters-in-laws, both named Deb (one on Ricky’s side of the family and one on my side).
Another set of photos I hurriedly looked through was photos from Jennifer’s childhood, and there were her senior portraits; what a happy period in her life that time was. I also came across some photos of my nieces and nephews as they grew from early childhood to adulthood. What wonderful memories they brought back.
During the years of Jennifer’s childhood we tried to get a family portrait every year. When you are living it, you don’t notice the changes, but it is amazing when you look back at the photos and see how fast a child changes in just twelve months. But time marches on…
When Jennifer graduated high school and moved away for college and then stayed away because she built a life somewhere else, we didn’t have the opportunity to take as many family portraits. We have done two or three in the past 23 years, but that’s all. Fortunately, we had the opportunity to get new family portraits made during the Christmas holidays. That was my Christmas gift this year, and I must say it was a really good one.
We had our photo session scheduled for the afternoon of Christmas Day; however, continual rain caused us to reschedule until the following day. That day was cloudy and overcast with intermittent sprinkles.
Nevertheless, as we made our way to Section’s Weathington Park, the sun broke through the clouds just long enough for Deedra Pike to get some really good photos for us to cherish for years to come.
Sometime in the next few days, I hope to have the time to spend more time looking at those photos and remembering the days gone by.
