Power of Pictures

I am so tired as I type this tonight. And I need to go to bed. But my mind is swimming and I need a few minutes to wind it all down so i can rest. Tonight I have been working on a slideshow for one of my NILMDTS families. I probably should have had it done by now...but I had two sessions hit my desk less than 12 hours apart. And there are so many photos from each session. And the session I am working on tonight has maternity, birth, and memorial service pictures too. It's a LOT of photos to sort through. I have been working on these pictures for over a week now. One here, and two or three there. Every time I have had a second I have pulled them up and worked on whatever was next. Tonight I started stringing them all together into a slideshow presentation. It's the first time I've seen the finished images all together. Showcased. And set to music. It's breathtaking. I sat here in tears as I saw the images cross my screen. I mean...I took the images. I remember being there. But I am taken aback by the power of these photographs. By how much emotion they convey. By how much grief has been captured. The details...The STORY that they tell. The pictures are all so beautiful. I see two parents in a maternity shoot cradling their soon to be born son. A son they know is not destined to live on this earth with them. A son they know they will greet and say goodbye to in the same breath. I see resolve in this beautiful mother's eyes. And I see...hope? In Dad's eyes? The scene changes then and phases into a collection of tiny feet. And tiny hands. And two parents cuddling their sweet baby. Gone before they even really uttered the word "welcome". I see their big hands against his tiny one. And his sweet little feet all curled up under him. I see his grandmothers cradling him just so and cooing to him and dressing him. I see his Daddy bestowing a sweet and emotion filled kiss upon his Mommy's head as she gazes down at him. And I see so much love and tenderness and sadness. The pictures fade and phase into new scenes. There are funeral floral arrangements. Blue and white flowers everywhere. And a tiny little white coffin. There are family gathered around a statue of Jesus. A united front in bidding farewell to this precious angel. There are pictures of his Mom and Dad and brothers and grandmothers...all releasing beautiful white doves up into the air. And all of those doves flying in the shadow of a beautiful daytime moon. Dad carries this tiny coffin, himself, from the hearse to the statue place. And again, from this place to the grave. He hands it, oh so tenderly to the gravedigger....awaiting this wee babe from down in the hole. There are photos of his family saying goodbye. Tossing their handfuls of dirt onto the casket and throwing in roses in a final act of goodbye. Powerful images. I am moved beyond belief tonight. I am so blessed that this family let me capture their journey. That they trusted and invited me into their world to capture this for them. To preserve it in such a way that they will treasure for all times. I'm blessed to have had my perspective reset...to have had a glimpse of a different life...and to be reminded that we are all dealt a different path to walk upon. None of us knows what tomorrow holds and each day is precious and a gift from God. As painful as it was...this day was still a gift for this family. And it's all there...the power of the pictures. And I am a changed person because of it.