Buried treasure...

I found a box full of treasures at the bottom of my closet. An old wallet full of school pictures, my girl scout sash, my student directory (or "facebook") from college, a program from my senior class play, the picture I have with Latoya Jackson, my 9th grade and high school diplomas, some lost prom pictures, a glowing recommendation letter (yes!), a couple of scholarship award letters and LOVE notes! What a treat to find these lost memories in an old shoe box. I was so tickled to read my name on the Guys & Dolls program as one of the dozen "Hot Box Girls" and even more grateful for the note written on the back of my high school beau's senior picture with all the little x's and o's. We were to be 2gether 4ever! Many of the pictures that I found are of people that are still in my life. I've been able to reconnect with some of these friends since my 20th High School reunion and some of them have always been on my Christmas card list but some of the friendships had been tucked away and forgotten...until now. On the back of each photo or written neatly on the corner of ticket stubs and yearbook pages are those little notes that we all write and never really appreciate until one day you stumble upon them in a box at the bottom of your closet.

Images that inspire...

I am the family photographer. Very rarely do I step out in front of a camera lens and if I do, it is usually to mark a special occasion: a birthday, Christmas, or a family vacation. My camera allows me to study my surroundings and the people in them. In return, I am gifted with intimate glimpses, moments of repose, tranquility, and joy. I mark the present with the click of a button. In my viewfinder, I have captured the lives around me and I have learned about my own.

It is a treat to go through these frozen moments. I never have the time or patience to view all 11,000 of them currently residing on my hard drive. Instead, I find myself wandering and flagging the ones that seem to make me pause. Today, as the winter wind howls outside and the brilliant sun betrays the frigid air, I find myself looking for a little red bathing suit. I hadn't seen these photos in a while. They were taken on a vacation with a small digital camera and then downloaded just to free up the memory card. I photograph my children a lot. My son tends to hide and will complain if I go near him with a camera but my daughter...well she is something else all together. It's like she is everything I wish I could be. She wears red polka dotted bathing suits!

So here is what I found. The ME I wish I could be, the HER that she is and ALL of it captured in an instant by the family photographer.

(© All images are the property of Millie Donovan and cannot be reproduced without permission. milliedonovan@sbcglobal.net)