Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

Michelle & Zoey

27 years ago, my mother and I were supposed to go shopping for a birthday gift for her.  Instead, I took a detour and delivered her first grandchild on her birthday.  A day later, it was her mother’s birthday.  My mother’s first great grandchild was named after her mother, Zoe.  It’s complicated.  But what is simple and true is that families, their legacies, and their love are what life is ALL ABOUT!

My siblings and I, some of our children, the birthday girls, our spouses, and my dad got together to celebrate.  The longer I live, the more I realize the treasure of moments together with people we love.  I don’t normally take a lot of snapshot-type photos of moments like this.  I should.  But I brought my camera and snapped a few pics of the evening.

I look at the images of mom, Rod and Zoey, Shell hugging Z, and I’m reminded not only of how important it is to photograph these moments but how important it is to PRINT the photos, STORE the photos, SAVE them!  I heard yet another story of a friend who lost all of her images on her computer when it crashed. No backups.  No hardcopies.  Tragic. 

Phyllis Joy Beach Love

So yesterday we all laughed and enjoyed each other in the moment.  Thank goodness I brought the camera!  I wish I would have snapped a few more. Maybe it’s the imperfections of snapshots I don’t like.  But I was reminded that time is fleeting.  Perfection is irrelevant.  Printed photos are keepsakes, treasures we’d grab if our house burned down or a flood came, but a computer disk or hard drive just can’t tug on our heart strings! So tomorrow I’m going to print all of these so we can enjoy them for years to come!  I hope you remember to do the same.

Happy 80th Birthday to my beautiful mother, Phyllis Joy Beach Love and to my amazing daughter, Michelle Janette Haman Rauser. xxxxxxxooooooo

Phyllis Joy Beach Love

I was no ‘piece of cake’ to raise.  And Lord knows it would have been a lot easier had I come into this world with a how-to manual!  I am so grateful that you hung in there with me and never stopped loving me.  We’ve had a whole lifetime to learn how to forgive, forget, and enjoy our wonderful relationship for what it is… a father and a daughter who love and respect each other very much.  We’ve spent great times together, even traveling to Italy and Ireland to see the sites of the world. Aren’t we blessed?!

Neil Love 1950

Today is the perfect day to tell you how proud I have always been of you and how much I love you.  You are such an amazing man.  I am thankful beyond measure to have inherited so much from you; your drive and deter-mination, a fraction of your intelligence, your love of research, standing up for what is right even when it’s not popular, stick-to-it-ness, fair play, helping others who are in need, and I love the last name you bestowed upon us! LOL … There is so much I am forever grateful for that you have given me.  But nothing compares with the gift of your deep and abiding love.

I am grateful you loved taking photographs. You know how much I love old photographs and you have given me a treasure chest of keepsake images we will have to pass down to our children who will pass them down. I especially love this photo of you. It’s my favorite. Your tie has little hearts in it! Although I look a lot like mom, those eyes and lips in this photo stare at me in the mirror. Geez, Warren Beatty and Clint Eastwood had nothing on you!

It warms my heart that you are so proud of me and never miss an opportunity to share with others all of your children’s accomplishments. They must tire of it, but you never do!  Although we aren’t going to be together today, you’re in my heart and in my thoughts. 

Thank you, Daddy… for all that you are and for all that you do. You are a giant among men with me.

Your Loving Daughter….

We’re all so busy today. No one has time to breathe anymore. I’m no busier than anyone else. I get frustrated and know I’m holding my breath just try to keep up the dizzying pace of owning a one-woman business, being a wife, being a mother, a grandmother, daughter, friend, etc. On a good day, I remember my old faithful, Ram Dass, and his words that still touch me from long ago… Be Here Now!

A perfect morning is where I get up, stretch, go out, and hit the park for three miles, and then come home and make a cup of decaf and sit down to read a bit. I can make a shift this way to having a good day no matter what I come upon… or what comes upon me! Today is one of those days.

So in all the craziness, one of the things I really enjoy that helps me really get in touch is creating portraits of children. I am reminded how simple life is, how playful and fun it can be, and how important it is to let our light shine like they do. They sooooooo get it!

I’ve gotten off track (what else is new)… One of my morning reads is Alan Cohen’s A Deep Breath of Life  for a daily dose of inspiration. I was behind and decided to read up on the past stories I’d missed. Ironically, I had been looking for one of my very favorites and there it was. Thought I’d share it with you today…

Jill With Friend

The parents of a four-year-old boy arrived home with his new baby brother. Soon the elder child began to pester his parents to leave him alone with the infant. Fearing that the four-year-old might hurt the baby, they refused. Finally, after the boy persisted, the parents consented. As a safeguard, they turned on the intercom to monitor the boy’s visit. Listening from the kitchen, they heard the older brother approach the crib, lean over, and ask the baby, “Tell me about God… I’m starting to forget.”

We have all forgotten about God, and we are starting to remember. We love children because they still bear the innocent light of heaven, and they have not yet been sullied by the pain and small thinking of the world. They are our connection to the divine.

The light that children shine still lives within us. It has not been lost, just covered over. The spiritual path is not one of attainment, but return. We are returning to our innate wisdom that the beauty we seek shines in us, through us, as us.

I hope today you let your light shine! I know I am!

When I was little, we had lilac shrubs outside of the kitchen window.  It’s funny how even today when I see images of lilacs, I can smell their fragrance and it takes me back to my years in my mother’s kitchen.

We planted a double Russian white lilac several years ago. It’s been a long time taking hold and yielding the beautiful flowers we experience today. The light was right yesterday to immortalize them. I wanted to use all natural light and I got carried away in the moment with me, my camera, and the lilacs. It was great.

Photographs are priceless. They record moments in time, always bringing back the memories, the fragrance, the feelings. They dust off  long forgotten moments of our lives bringing them back to us to savor for as long as we like.

The great James Dillet Freeman said, ’Lilacs tell me love is what things are constructed of.  I note how God has wrapped this globe in lilac air like a seamless robe.  And I sense, no less than lilacs, you and I, are love’s stuff too.’

Blessings to all mothers everywhere this weekend. Happy Mother’s Day! These flowers are for you!

After the launch of my new jewelry line at J. Love Photography, I sent in the photographs for my first photo charm to be made for me!  After all, I need to have one and wear it (of course).

One of my very favorite portraits sits on my desk.  It is a portrait made the day my father graduated from medical school.  It is of my mother, my grandmothers, and my great-grandmothers.  It’s a priceless treasure to me and a rare image for anyone to have, for sure.  How often do these women not only live at the same time but gather at the same time and have a portrait made of them?  

On the other side of the photo charm, I chose to put a portrait of my mother that she gave me years ago to restore for her.  It was taken when she was about 19 I think.  It, too, has become a priceless treasure to me.  As I stare at her, I see myself.  I realize that yes, we do become our mothers.  And for me, that is a blessing!

So I share these images with you, in honor of  Mother’s Day, so you see a bit of my heritage.  This may provide a glimpse into the future of your portraits and what they will mean for generations to come. 

Mother’s Day is upon us.  This charm is a personal celebration of the women who gave me roots… and then eventually gave me wings.  If you are interested in creating your own personal Jewel Kade photo charm, please let me know and we can work on something wonderful together.

I have always said a little prayer to my grandmothers as I gaze on their photo.  Today is no exception.  To Helen Love, Pearl Bowen, Zoe Beach, and Naomi Love. I can still remember each of you.  And although you have been gone for a long time, you are always with me in spirit.  And to my mom, Phyllis Joy Beach Love, who I am spending the weekend with… thank you all for continuing to light my way.  I am blessed.