Surrounded by Smiling Faces

Photos represent more than just pictures of things that have been printed or uploaded, they represent memories that you have. Some are good, and some are not so good. Some are happy and some are sad. When we see these photos, we are taken back to the place where the photo was taken and it is almost like we are there again.

My mom has always been one to take many pictures. Wherever we went, there she was with her camera getting ready to snap a shot. Sometimes, especially when I was little, I use to hate photos. I can’t really tell you why, but they just made me uncomfortable. I would stare blankly into the camera with a look of annoyance written all over my face. I still get grief for that to this day from many of my family members. But now I enjoy having my picture taken because I know it will be a memory that I and others can always go back to remember that day.

As I have become older, I understand the importance of taking and keeping photos. They help me know where I came from and what I have done in the past. Sometimes there is a photo that sparks a memory of something that I have blocked out or not remembered. I know that whenever I need to find a picture of someone, I can go to my mom’s full-to-the-top bookshelf of photo albums (dating back to her teens when she got her first camera) and I’ll find exactly what I am looking for. Now most people have gone to digital cameras (except my grandma who still uses a camera that uses film). This change has eliminated the process of putting photos in albums for most people, because it is much easier just to click one button on the screen and there your pictures are! But what would happen if your computer crashed or was stolen? Where would all of your pictures be? For me and for my mom, that is why printing our photos is still important. With our photo albums, it is easy to find what I am looking for, as long as I know the approximate year it happened.  The photos albums are a good resource of our family history. 

My mom is still expanding her photo album book shelf, and prints pictures at least once a week. We have picture frames everywhere inside our house as well. I like that because it gives me the sense that someone is always there, and that there is always a memory to go back to. I know that if there ever was a fire inside my house, the photo albums would be the first thing I would save (besides my family and myself) because those are irreplaceable. By having photos all around me at all times, it gives me a sense of home and the comfort of my family’s smiling faces.