Appreciative of photographs

I spend my life capturing and preserving the events and love that my clients share. Why do I do this? To bring a smile to their faces each time they see the images and recall a moment, an emotion, or a time that past by too fast. That in itself holds a great value, however there are times when having photos of those people, moments & experiences hold even more value…
Yesterday I lost my grandmother. She was 97, and was fantastic. She smiled at everyone whether she knew them or not, and was the living embodiment of love, selflessness & positive thinking. Loss is awful… There’s no way to avoid it, but it doesn’t matter how wonderful their life, or how easy their passing– losing someone you love hurts.
But it is during these times when I am even more appreciative of my job. As I look through my years of images, I see all the times I laughed, danced, and hugged this person I cherished. I can say now that I loved holding her hands… She had the softest skin… But when I see myself holding her hand in a photo, I know that I didn’t wait til she was gone to appreciate the little things.
Photos of loved ones are valuable when they’re around, but invaluable when they’re not. I will cherish the photos I have of my grandmother forever, and feel lucky to get to give that gift to people every day.