CAPTURED

I suppose you think I am going to write about something, someone or myself being captured. Perhaps that is right. My way of capture is with one of my cameras. I have been fortunate in the past 31 years (oh my that sounds so long!) to capture thousands of people, numerous animals and a multitude of nature and scenic photographs. I think that calling this a "job" is unfortunate, because I enjoy this aspect of my "job" immensely. Of course all of the nitty gritty details to accomplish the delivery of the product we create is tedious, however the end of it results in such satisfaction.

The art of Capture is such fun and very thought provoking. Creating the image can and usually does take planning, the best part is the actual capture and end result, a photograph which creates a memory, that can touch your heart. At least that is my intent.

When a disaster takes place (tornado, hurricane, flood, fire) and you may see on the TV the people affected, many say they were able to save their photographs or perhaps they lost their photographs. For me this shows that these images they saved or lost were so very important, a preservation of a memory .

In this day of Digital photography capture is so much easier, however it is making people comfortable. It is essential to get a hard copy of the image because......

......a camera can break, be lost or stolen. A memory card can fail and because of the newness of digital imagery saving to a hard drive, CD or DVD may not be permanent. Please make sure to get a picture you can hold in your hand, frame or put in an album. It will then become a permanent memory for you to share with the future. Please do not wait, because any of the above can happen at any time!

OK enough lecturing. It is such a joy to see peoples faces when I present their photographs to them. My husband is very gifted as a photographer I suppose you could say it is in his blood, being third generation and all. I am so lucky to have learned most of what I know from him. We are fortunate to be able to Capture Memories for others, in our Studio literature we call it "Memory Insurance" and I really believe it is.

We connect with many people at the time of the loss of a loved one. They need a picture of their loved one for the funeral or for themselves. I am sorry for people at this time in their life. However, I am thankful we can give them this memory we have created. To be able to see a little glimmer of comfort when I give them their photograph lets me hope that they will be able to get through this very sad time, a bit easier with this picture of their loved one. And because of the photograph, the memory will be with them always.

I have many photographs of my Dad at work and at home, often I look at them for comfort, encouragement and even advice. The picture is a piece of my Dad and I am so happy Mike captured him for me, such a treasured gift!

I am sure you all are thankful for the pictures you have, to keep memories, yours forever.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Turn Around and Where Has It Gone?

"TIME FLIES", yes it does. In 10 days I will have been blessed to have been the wife of Mike for 22 years! It seems like it was just last week that we headed out with our secret. We were going to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to "tie the knot"; no one except Mike's sons and my sister Patti, knew we were doing this. We had our announcements to send out and our clothing, rings and video camera to capture the ceremony. I had just returned home from 7 days in Florida with my sister Patti and my 2 month old nephew Joey, his Dad was away so I had helped out and threw everyone off from our secret.

Mike and I left on Sunday and arrived on Monday at the courthouse in Sievereville to get our marriage license and send out our announcements, so they would arrive on April Fool's day.....our wedding day. I joke that we got married on April Fool's day 'cause "only fools fall in love" but you know, I do not feel foolish at all!

Now back to "time flies" ....that 2 month old nephew is now a handsome, charming 22 year old, we are grandparents, have 2 great sons, 14 additional nieces and nephews and one great niece. Four Surrogate daughters, a great church family and many great friends. Last year was our 25th year of being owners of our photography business, and we are about to begin a new business, the McClure Guesthouse. Of course there have been sad/bad times...loss of family members and dear friends, illness, business problems, but the good times far outweigh the bad and we are lucky.

Over the past three weeks Mike and I have been apart quite a bit. It is amazing just how slow that time flew. We are back on track now, together almost 24/7, many people find it hard to believe we can be together so much and have such a great marriage, but I can honestly say it does work.

I do turn around and wonder where the time has gone, but then I realize that "time flies", and it is such a beautiful flight! I am truly blessed with my husband, family, friends and business and I thank God every day.

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Little Guy From Florida........

Gonna Be Back In The Saddle Again.....

Tomorrow I head back to Olney, I am sad to leave this great place and to leave my time with Mom. My sister Patti will be getting her "Mom" time. It is great to have this time with Mom.

When I get back home it will be to continue the work I have been working on here. But there is a bit of a glitch, on Friday Mike has to have urgent oral surgery and needs me to come with to be the "designated Driver" for him post surgery. Such a great way to spend his birthday.

Then I have a sports job to photograph in the afternoon. Saturday: 3 wedding consultations and a portrait session for a family from Chicago. So I will be 'Back in the saddle" again.

Vacations are great but there is always everything going on at home, when you get back. So I will fly home tomorrow and be very thankful I have a great husband who kept the fires burning at home, work and at the McClure House while I came to Florida for 11 days and I am thankful for my Mom who treats her daughters to "special" Florida vacations with her, yearly. Memories that will last forever!

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Blessings, Missing You and Appreciation For Where I Am.

I miss my hubby very much right now, but I am very happy to be here with my Mom too.

Last night (saturday) my Mom, my sister Patti and I went out on the town, well actually for a spin around this part of town, deciding where to have dinner. We ended up at Umbertos and enjoyed great Italian food. Mom and Patti, played it safe with chicken parm and spaghetti, I decided to try something different and hard to pronounce - Gnocchi it was great! I even have leftovers to enjoy for lunch. We had a great time laughing, enjoying past memories and joking around.

Today Mom and I went to Mass at 8 AM, we were on time even with the time change. We then came back to the resort and had breakfast. This afternoon Patti arrived with gifts, Amaretto [not because I need it, but because I like it] for me and 3 different wigs for Mom. Mom has very thin hair and mentioned she was thinking about getting a wig, Patti had some and brought them. We tried them on Mom, such fun we had and then took some pictures and sent them to our siblings for a vote, so far C is winning. We then went out into the sun and enjoyed the beautiful day and being together.

Around 4 I touched base with Mike, I just needed to hear his voice 'cause I do miss him! And as always it made my day, just to hear him, even though we did not talk too long. This time being apart really makes me appreciate and love him so much more, 1-because I really do miss him and 2-because he let me come down here to be with my Mom for such a long time, actually he did not "let" me, he encouraged me to come. Thanks love!

Tonight we had dinner with Patti & Frank and Frank's sister and husband, Barbara & George. It was a dinner filled with so much laughter and fun. Thank you all, Mom had a great time and I did too.

I will be here until Thursday and I am sure we will have more memories to remember and to make. I have such appreciation for where I am too at this time, with my Mom and loving her so very much, loving my siblings and enjoying our love for one another, thanks to my Mom and Dad, we (siblings) get along pretty good and we are lucky that we stay in touch. I am also lucky to have Mike in my life. God has richly blessed me, don't you agree?

Always & Forever

I am in Pompano Beach, Florida right now. At a resort on the beach and it is 48 degrees at 8:19 AM. This should be a bummer, but not yet. It is supposed to warm up and the sun will be there for me to enjoy. However, the past two days have been great! I am vacationing with my Mom. Her health is not the best, but coming down to this place is something she looks forward to. My Dad and her spent many years here and she has her memories. This year we are in the villa which was the one that she and Dad shared on their last vacation together. That was Moms first comment as we walked by the pool to where Patti (my sister) and her family waited with all of our "stuff". I am glad we are staying here, Mom has shared some feelings, thoughts and concerns, she has had about the end of my Dad's life. These memories are a part of her Always & Forever.

Unfortunately Mom has gotten a cough and cold, I am certain it came from the plane as there were so many people sharing their colds throughout the plane, in such close quarters.

Yesterday was spent having breakfast in the hotel restaurant and catching up on the hotel gossip. Since Mom left last year the owner has died and his children are now in charge and things are different. We have already noticed some changes. After breakfast the concierge called for a rental car for us and we were picked up to go get the car. A new hurdle for my Mom was getting up into the van, there was no running board and with the state of her legs, this was terrible!! She hates to ask for assistance, 1) I am sure it is demeaning and 2) She knows how to ascend or descend her way so there is not too much pain. But we now have a car and our next mission was to the grocery store for groceries. We got to the store and I saw they provided the electric carts, I asked Mom if she wanted to use it. Well there was a bit of anxiety in her eyes as she contemplated it and then decided not to use it, and the man who takes out the groceries told her it would be easy. So Mom sat down and drove into the store on her shopping cart. It was fun, she took a moment to understand just how it would work and then took off down the aisle that had all the bottles of wine, well I was right behind her hoping she had control of the machine and she did! It made the task of shopping quite interesting! A few times the cart did not follow her directions, she only came close to running into one person and did "bump" into a display of water, pretty good for a first timer, I wonder if I would do as well. She did have to back up and hated the loud beep that the machine gave out, but she managed to back up quite nicely.

As I said it is quite chilly here, [who brings warm clothing to southern Florida when they leave Chicago]! Last night we went out for dinner to Stingers it is a local bar that has great food. Well guess what, we wanted to eat quickly to get back to watch the Bachelor finale and the only place to sit was in the outdoor booths, we went as far back and away from the outdoors as possible, we were a bit chilly and had our dinner, went to the Walgreen's to get some cough medicine and Vicks and came back to our Villa. We watched the crazy ending and then I went to bed. Now I sit here writing this, waiting for Mom to get up and plan our day, I am sure it will just be staying here until tonight and we will go out for dinner.

This is the fifth year I have come down to vacation with my Mom. I am so glad I get to spend this time with her. We share memories and create some new ones. I can not imagine life without my Mom. I do live 5 hours away from her but I talk to her about every day. She is a very kind, generous person and I have come to realize she loves her 6 children a lot. Just as all of us do, she does have her particular ways, but that is what makes her Mom. It is hard to see her becoming dependant on her children, because we have always depended on her. Sure it seems she has her "favorite child", but that is our problem not hers. We all are different and in our own way we each are her favorite, I am quite sure. Just as with my Dad, I want my Mom in my life Always & Forever, these vacations will be a part of that and I am so glad that God has blessed me with this time with her. And I am thankful that Mike lets me get away from work, he is a gem!

Please if you read this, do take time to touch base with your parents often, while they are here, so you will have them ALWAYS & FOREVER!