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

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