I have been very blessed to have known six of my great grandparents.
That’s right, I wrote great grandparents. Six of them.
On Sept. 3 at 2am, my 98-year-old Nanny made that trip to joint the rest of her family members who have passed on.
One of my favorite stories she would tell was about a photo session she did in her early 30s. She was in her friend’s bridal party and the photographer asked if he could take her portrait. She agreed to let him photograph her.
She was walking by his studio a few days after the shoot, and to her surprise he had hung her portrait in the studio window. It made her so happy.
So many years later she would smile wide whenever she told me the story.
To honor her life, I will be hanging that same photo — the one taken some seven decades ago — in my studio window for the next month.
From then on, it will never leave my studio.
This is a true testament to why I believe that photographs need to be printed and displayed for future generations to look at and cherish.
After we are gone, the photos will help us live on.
This is the last photo I had taken with her, along with the rest of her great-grandchildren.
It was at my sister’s wedding, on Aug. 6, 2016. The photo was taken with an iPhone, which goes to show it doesn’t matter what equipment you use, as long as you take the time to print the photo and preserve the memories. It has become my most cherished photo and will be so for years to come.
FYI, shortly after this photo was taken, she was sharing a beer with all of us.