Memories

I was leafing through some photo files on our computer this morning trying to find one picture in particular to send to a friend. I spotted this photo of Anna and I had sort of a revelation. I scrapbook and I am always trying to sort through our pictures (we take 1000s!) and find the best one, the cutest one, the most important memory to preserve, what to hold on to, what will I want to remember in 5, 10, 20 years? I had already scrapbooked this perfect Christmas '07 morning, where we went out with the kids and rode their new bikes. But I completely missed this picture of Anna, just skimmed over it like it was not good enough. What did I not like about it? Was it because I couldn't see her face that well? Now, 5 months later, knowing what I know now about Anna's personality and her sheer sassiness and spunk, I would have absolutely put this one in the book. Now that I have watched her grow into that pink gypsy skirt and out of the shirt and shoes she's wearing, I would have absolutely put this one in the book. Scrapbooking is supposed to be my fun hobby, but sometimes I find it stressful, because I am literally editing Dave and I's life together. I am choosing, in many ways, what we will remember and what we will forget. I have already found this to be true with Jonathan's babyhood. Things I thought I would never forget are already a little fuzzy and out of focus, and our albums of him are what I look to when I want to remember.

On my quest to hold on to these moments of Anna and Jonathan's childhood, I guess I am always asking myself, what is most precious, most worthy of remembrance? And this morning, I realized the answer: everything. Everything is precious. Every laugh, every tear, every single moment should be savored because once they are gone you can't get them back and there's no guarantee how many we'll get.