The requirement for the contest was to post your all-time favorite image to your blog.
Easy enough. Or so I thought.
My first inclination was to share this image of my boys ... its almost as if they are making a heart by touching their heads together.
Perfect.
Entry completed.
But some how, this beautiful image, that I adore and is prominently displayed in my home really isn't my favorite. Not really.
Thursday marked a milestone in my and their lives. Not a very happy one.
It was three years ago March 8th that my father passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Life changed in an instant. For me, my boys, my sisters, my mother ... abruptly and inexplicably life was never to be the same. I have been forever changed.
Photography has given me a much needed respite and release from my new normal. I look through the lens differently. It is no longer about the perfect smile, pose, backdrop, or composition. I now strive to convey the truth. The love between a mother and child, the playfulness between siblings, the devotion seen in a father's eyes as he looks at his wife and children.
So, while I do adore the above image of my boys it isn't my ALL TIME FAVORITE.
That special spot in my heart is held by one image. Not the perfect portrait. But rather, a photo that graces my laptop screen. A photo that I keep copies of in my drawers and even my car glove box, just so that I will open it, look at it and be reminded.
Reminded of just how much my father loves me and truly how love never leaves and always comes full circle.
-Mickelle
