~of the people and the places that you love~

The last half day of school before we all leave for Christmas break has arrived.  Children and adults alike are ready for it.  Hey, I think it would be ok to say that we are all more than ready for it.  For as quickly as the first 18 weeks of school have gone, this wintertime 2-week vacation has been a long time in coming.  

This has been a fast first semester.  I remember as a kid how school seemed to drag on and on and on.  Sometimes I wish I could go back for a moment in time and tell the little girl that I used to be that she shouldn't want life to go so quickly.  

I was reminded of that "little girl" this week when I saw some photos that had been taken by my art teacher at Haven Grade School, Mrs. Houchen.  They were old black and white ones with the date stamp of August of 1967 on them.  It was a lot of fun to look through them and try to identify the kids from the days of my youth back there in south-central Kansas.  

One in particular caught my eye and when I saw it, my heart swelled.  It was a photo of several sixth grade girls sitting on the ground.  When I saw myself in the picture, I could have nearly cried.  The quiet and very shy little girl that I used to be was sitting right there in the picture.  I had not seen a photo of myself at that age in nearly 40 years.  It was a surely a blessing to see it after all this time had gone by.

There I was, wearing a sleeveless dress that I vaguely remember.  My dark hair was short and its usual straight self.  I didn't have much of a smile on my face but perhaps it was because I was listening intently to what my teacher was telling me to do :)  Those little girls from a time so long ago were all a part of my life.  Thankfully I still am in touch with several of them today.  It was a good life, all things considered.

Today I am older.  As a matter of fact, I'm about 48 years older.  Images like these are really priceless to me.  Most of the pictures of me from my childhood were lost in the house fire that my folks went through back on Christmas Eve of 1976.  Whenever I have the chance to see snapshots that depict anything of life before that fire happened, I hang on to them tightly.  They mean so much now.  Their value is priceless.

I am a photographer of anything that surrounds me.  Sometimes I think that perhaps I am taking way too many photos, as evidenced by the massive amount of them that always seem to fill my phone's camera storage area.  Yet after realizing just how much the picture above means to me, I have come to a conclusion.

I suddenly don't think I take too many pictures after all.  

Happy Friday everyone out there~
Take a photo today of the people and the places that you love.
You won't regret it if you do but you might regret it if you don't.