Good morning!
I just love a good Friday morning in June, don’t you? It’s
summertime, it’s almost the weekend, it just feels so… “hopeful,” doesn’t it?
Speaking of “hopeful,” I had a neat experience recently.
About a week ago, I spoke with my daughter, Megan, on the phone and asked what
she and Joe were up to. She said that they were going for a maternity photo
shoot.
Oh, okay… I
thought. Now don’t get me wrong - I’ve seen the types of photos that she was
referring to; but I’ve got to tell you that just a generation ago…? We did not
participate in this sort of shoot. Something has happened over the course of 20-30 years
that has added this category to the photo shoot list of musts: engagement photos,
wedding photos, maternity photos, newborn photos, 3/6/9/12-month photos, family
photos, pet(?) photos…
Me and Baby Tony at my Baby Shower
For us, an engagement photo meant that some night before
going out to dinner, if we looked a little better than usual, and if we were
engaged at the time, one of our parents pointed the camera at us and said, “Say
cheese…” Because we still bought and used rolls of film, there was a good
chance that one of us had our eyes shut, was talking, or was reaching for the
camera. Two photos were usually clicked “just in case.” The photos often sat in
the camera for six months or better, usually until after the holiday season,
when people took more pictures than usual. We then submitted the roll to
Walgreens or Target or one of those little photo developing places in a parking
lot, and waited a couple of days for developing.
We did have a wedding photographer. Todd’s brother (Timm)
agreed to follow us around on that day and snap shots of us – probably looking
better than our usual selves. Again, after the wedding we took our five or six
rolls of film to Walgreens and waited.
A maternity photo was usually snapped at our baby shower. I
can’t speak for everyone, but at that time, having gained 50 or 60 pounds, I
think my response was something like, “Do we have to take pictures today?” and
of course we did have to. I felt so
self-conscious, so unworthy of photo attention. The shots didn’t turn out so
bad, and I’m glad I have them to show the kids, but my heart wasn’t really in to being photographed.
A newborn’s photo was snapped in the hospital nursery. A
photographer would go in, and while the baby had their little knit cap on,
swaddled from head to toe in receiving blankets, snap a picture of their sweet
little face. Sometimes hands were showing, sometimes just eyes, nose and mouth.
Tony and Megan after our one-hour photo shoot 'wait'
I did take the kids to Sears for a six-month and a year-old
photo. After that, we again relied on our own cameras most of the year. I
remember one incident when the line (no appointments necessary) was so long
that Tony got all sweated up playing for the hour prior. His hair is slicked
back and I’m laughing right now as I type, remembering his rosy red cheeks and
wet hair. Ah, the good ‘ol days…
THEN, this week Megan posted some photos from that maternity
shoot that I mentioned earlier.
Megan, Joe and Baby S
Maternity Photos: Keane Eye Photography, LLC
This next generation is really on to something. The photos
were absolutely beautiful. Some were posed, yes, but incredibly natural. Instead
of a young woman waving the camera away (like I did all those years ago), she
embraces the way she looks and the baby growing inside. The photographer also captured
the love that Megan and Joe share. I remembered at the kids’ wedding, after
they’d said their vows and walked back down the aisle of the church, I saw Joe
pick up Megan and swing her around. That was the joy they shared that day, and these photos show the
joy that they are sharing on this
day – as they wait for their little Baby S to appear. It just seems so…
“hopeful!”
I was so
impressed, and may I say, moved to tears?
Where did my little girl go? I used to gather her hair into
a ‘whale spout.’ She wore braces for several years. She got glasses when the school’s
blackboard grew fuzzy. She dated, she married, and now she’s going to be a
mama…
I think that these photos are also extra special because
we’ve had the thousand miles of physical distance between us. It’s a wide
separation, and though we’ve seen her a couple of times this year, it’s been so
special to visually witness this part
of their present life.
Can I ask you a favor? Baby S is supposed to arrive in less
than three weeks. Please keep our family, especially Megan, Joe, and the baby,
in your prayers.
Until we blog again…
Katie Kolberg Memmel is the author of “Five Fingers, Ten Toes – A
Mother’s Story of Raising a Child Born with a Limb Difference. For more
information, visit her website at: www.katiekolbergmemmel.com
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