Frozen Moments

I found this photo over Christmas break while I was cleaning out a cabinet in the basement.  My daughter and I commented on how it was a favorite of ours.  I'm not sure what her reasons were but I know what mine would be. 

• The fact that all three of my boys were laughing from the gut about something I don't remember.  Their smiles bring back so many memories of their childhood which I thought would last forever, but it didn't.
• The horrible, huge, eyeglasses that we foisted upon our eldest son which we now laugh about, but at the time seemed in style.  Sorry, Nathan!
• The cute matching sets of clothing that my younger two boys are wearing.  Who doesn't love rainbow striped shorts?
• The frilly, pink, flowered dress my daughter is wearing because back then I could dress her up any way I wanted. (She has a wonderful sense of style now, but there was a time when I despaired of her ever wearing a dress again).
• That old house of ours where we spent 10 years of our married life raising four of our kids.
• The pictures on the mantel of two of my nieces who were is grade school then and who now each have 5 children of their own.
• All of the memories of 10 years in that house and yet at times it feels I don't remember living there.

When I think about all of the things that have transpired since that time it almost seems like someone else's life.  Building a new house, having a child get a liver transplant, traveling to Russia twice to get a child that wasn't even in that picture, having teenagers, putting 3 kids through college.

Now, I have a large home with a lot of empty bedrooms just waiting for in-laws and grandchildren to fill them up again.  

Always keep the moments of a special picture in your heart where it will last forever even when a photograph falls apart.