Life is good or so it seems. I have a loving husband and daughter who are my world, an amazing family consisting of parents, siblings, in laws, cousins, aunts, uncles and a few close friends. I have a great job and fantastic co-workers; we laugh a lot! Then there are the material things like a house, cars and the latest gadgetry. Anyone get a load of that new iPhone X? Sweet!!! I like to watch the news, scroll through my Twitter feed and read online articles on just about any topic under the sun. But something’s changed. Sometimes life is not always rainbows and unicorns. These days the TV is on but muted and after a minute or two of scrolling through Twitter I switch over to play a mindless game of Candy Crush. (I’m on level 898 in case you’re wondering. I know right!?!) I find that lately we are constantly being bombarded with so much negativity, feels like the worst it has ever been. Whether it’s “news” about what Donald Trump did/said, North Korea’s latest ditty fit, the destruction left behind after the hurricanes or the mass shooting in Las Vegas its hard to let go of all that stuff and just be. We all need to find that little place to escape to when things get chaotic. For me, the escape is photography. I grab my gear and start snapping.
************************************************************************************
This past summer has been an especially difficult one for our family. We lost someone who was certainly one of a kind. She was a strong and very determined woman who loved her family dearly. Nearly every day the phone would ring and it would be her wondering what we were at or keeping us up to date about latest goings on in the River. And she never forgot a birthday or anniversary! I loved sending her my pictures through email. I’d always get a reply that was a few simple words and she’d always sign it JMP. I was the daughter-in-law but she always made me feel like I was one of her own.
It is hard to believe she’s not with us anymore. Not a single day goes by that I don’t think of her. In her memory we planted a tree in our backyard. It’s a Chestnut tree, like the ones that grew in her family’s yard. To me they are a symbol of strength, like her. Now, every time we look out our kitchen window we see the tree and are reminded of her and how important it is to always look for the beauty among the chaos.
Until Next Time,
Andrea
Just beautiful, Andrea.
Andrea, your pictures are beautiful as usual ! Your tribute to Jeanne Marie was also beautiful and very touching . It is so nice that you planted a Memory Tree for her in your back yard . She looks so happy in that picture on the swing .That in itself is a wonderful memory ! She will never be forgotten as long as her memories are being shared by her family and friends .
Very beautiful!
Awesome photographs!