Family photos

Take them while you can.

Maybe this isn’t really relevant today since everyone takes pictures of just about anything with the advent of camera phones, tablets and low-cost digital cameras.

But in my time, not all families had cameras. And those that had were not so free in its use because (and I am dating myself here) it was the type that used rolled photographic film which had a limited number of exposures. I remember that it was a luxury to get a roll of film with 36 exposures.

So when I looked for a picture of our basic family unit (before everyone upped and got married), the only one I found was taken decades ago. The most recent one I could find was missing a family member because it was taken when all five siblings came together --- to bury our father.

The last time all five of us sisters were
together was when everyone came home
for Daddy's burial.

Just recently, my daughter asked for a family picture for a school project. Easy enough, I thought until I found myself looking through several folders before I found one of all three of us. That’s because her Dad and I take turns taking shots.

There were also lots of pictures that had all three of us with other family members or friends.  This is a good thing, but take the time to get one of just the family as well.  Your friends or relatives won’t mind as long as you’re not obnoxious about getting them out of the way.

It will get harder to have a picture of everyone in the family together when your children get older and move out to study or work somewhere else or get married.  We don't have one where all our families are present because my two sisters in the US have not been able to take a vacation in the country at the same time.

So the next time you have a meal together, take the time. Ask the server to take a shot of the whole family. Then go on, take as much as you can of that mouth-watering dessert.