The One Behind The Camera

Today, my kids start the new school year. My eldest is off to the first day of his last year of high school, and my youngest is entering high school for the first time. They left for the day, and I got looking at a stack of pictures that I'd stumbled across while cleaning the other day. The stack ranged from 2002 through 2004, from when my oldest was a year old to when my youngest was a year old. It was about a 2" thick stack, and within that stack, I found exactly 3 images of me.

Three.

Think about that for a moment.

Now, I'm not 100% sure how to navigate the waters on this, so my apologies up front if I am offensive or hurtful in my language. I just need to get this out. My youngest son was born a girl. For 15 years and 6 days, I had a daughter. For 4 months and 12 days, I have had a second son. I sometimes have a hard time wrapping my head around it still. I actively try to think of him as a male, and use the proper name, but I have been slipping up more and more lately, and I'm not sure why, other than the fact that I'm just...

I'm in mourning.

I have 15 years worth of pictures of my daughter, and I can't look at them without crying.

And to now realize that I'm not even IN most of the pictures...

Folks, if you're starting a family, or if you've got young kids, make sure you take turns taking the pictures. Because if only one person takes all the pictures, that person will never BE IN the pictures. And the one behind the camera is important, too.