What Irene Taught Me

My family travelled to Calgary two weeks ago to attend a funeral of a very dear woman. Her name was Irene and attending her funeral was a bit of a wake up for me. You see Irene was a great woman, a great friend, a loving wife and an amazing mom. Her accolades wouldn't be found in the newspaper or on the internet, but rather in her church, with her neighbors, her children, grandchildren and husband. She was awesome and the people she touched were wide and far, but the greatest impact she made was right in her home. She was a hostess with the mostess. You never went hungry at her house and you never were bored for long! She was known to play a mean game of horse around the basketball hoop and would jump into whatever game was being played. She was mischevious and was often involved in some sort of prank.


As Garth and I entered the foyer of the church for the funeral we were struck by the amount of photos gracing the walls. All of them were photos of Irene, playing games with her children when they were young, reading to her grandchildren, sitting around the campfire with her family and friends, taking hikes, quietly sitting in a chair reading her Bible. These photos weren't ones you'd find hanging up on someone's wall, but rather ones to grace a photo album or scrapbook... but they were so telling of who she was! And who was she? She loved her Lord and her family more than anything else and those photos spoke of that.


So what did that mean to me? I had some time to reflect as I watched the slide show play while we waited for the funeral to start and I started to tear up thinking on all the things that I have ahead of me that I might miss if I don't start making changes now. Changes that show and reflect what is truly important to me.

When I pass on to eternity I want my family to look back over photos and have great memories of who I was and what I did.... with them!!!

So in that thread I've made some changes around my house - I quit my job of 4 years working at Gold's Gym and Women Zone. As of Christmas day I am no longer employed by anyone other than my family and my photography clients. Just making this move has lifted a weight off my shoulders as I feel that I'll be able to give myself a little more freely to my family when they are home instead of trying to do other stuff while trying to be with them. So that is huge for me as it means that I'm letting go of a consistent reliable income and instead relying on God and in turn praying for more photography clients! So if you know of someone needing wedding photos or family photos or just because photos, pass on my blog link to them please!! I love referrals!!!


Secondly, I've become somewhat of a resounding gong in my house - "where's the point and shoot? Where is the point and shoot camera!!!!" And why am I asking that? There are literally NO photos of me in this house. Because I'm the one behind the camera there aren't very many of me infront of it! So if you hear me saying that, just grab yours and take one of me with whomever I'm with and email it to me please!! I want to be able to look back in years time and see photos of me WITH my friends and family not just my friends and family.


So on that note, I've ended this post with a photo that was taken last week of my boys and I as we are decorating the tree together. You may or may not see that I am a little teary, not too sure why but decorating the tree does it for me every year. I think the whole family hanging out ,some sort of sappy Christmas music in the background, the laughter of my 3 guys and the memories that each ornament holds for me brings me to tears. It's not a postcard photo but it's one I know I'll cherish forever.


So go take a photo of you with some of your loved ones and print them!! Don't just leave them on the computer or even worse just on your camera! Get them off there!


Have a good night.