My mom was given a wonderful book entitled, “A Grandparent’s Legacy” – it’s a decent sized book of questions to be completed by a grandparent that essentially recounts their entire life and personality and…well, their legacy for future generations. I’m so happy that the book was given to her and I hope to get a copy to all the grandparent at some point.
The questions range from the cute and easy (what was your favorite snack or treat as a chid) to the heavy. One of the questions was “what is your most prized physical possession”. I won’t spoil my mom’s answer, but mine has to be our photos. Specifically, my Picture of the Day collection from the last 4 years. There are 1,460 days of living, and loving, and jobs, and pain, and parties, and milestones in those photos. And imagine how much more precious it’ll be with a little one here!
So that’s why I’m furious that our camera was lost/left behind/stolen on Valentine’s Day. Define the manner of “losing” it as you will. The fact is, we no longer have it. And because of our recent crazy schedules, I hadn’t transferred the photos to the computer in forever. So have we lost everything since January 1. That includes my entire 3rd trimester of belly photos (JUST when we were getting to the good stuff!), Atlanta’s worse snow/ice storm in well over a decade, the subsequent week of being “iced in,” work on the nursery, my cat’s medical crisis and recovery (ah yes, it’s ALL documented in pictures, even the ugly), and our niece’s 4th birthday party, just to list a few things. Not to mention the mundane of the daily photo. It’s often the mundane pictures that take on a special meaning when viewed several years later. You remember the worst ice storm in a decade. You’re less likely to remember that special, spontaneous dinner date “just ’cause” unless it’s there underexposed, quickly snapped, and poorly lighted – right in front of you.
So, to whomever took our camera, I leave you with the immortal words of Cee Lo Green (radio edit): FORGET YOU!
Nooo! Losing my pictures would be devastating for me. I am so sorry! We had a hard drive crash when Bradley was just over a year. I had at the time been printing all my pictures so I had hard copies. Now I have several external hard drives for back ups because I am paranoid. I even keep burned DVD copies at each of my parent’s house in case we are robbed or the house burns down. So sorry for your loss!