I don't think it really hit me until I started putting together a slideshow for his birthday party next weekend. Let me back up...it really started when I began going through all the photos I have of him and trying to decide what to include in this slideshow.
I love taking photos. People who know me would say that's an understatement. I used to take 13-15 rolls of film at an event and then drop them off at Costco for development. The manager of the photo center and I are on a first name basis. He was the one who asked me one day "Teresa, when are you going to go digital?" He helped me make that switch sooner than I probably would have. I've never looked back...
So it would be safe to say that I had quite a mountain of photos to select from - some on cd and some that needed scanning. I spent one afternoon going through all the photo albums in the house. Then went through two huge containers of photos and cds that I haven't had a chance to put in order. Here I thought I had everything in order - at least I had a good start at it. By this I mean that I started putting pictures on my Smugmug.com website. That was one of the smartest things I've ever done.
Going through the photos was quite the trip down memory lane. I have one accordion container with all the kids school, sports and daycare photos. I also have pictures of the kids from their first year where I had their pictures made at JCPenney every two months. They change so much the first year...
By the time I had scanned photos and copied photos from the smugmug site and also the home computer I probably had about 400 pictures to narrow down into a slideshow. That's where I had to get creative. Costco has a slideshow deal where you can upload photos and select popular music and they send it to you in a nice dvd container with a photo and title. My daughter used this for her boyfriend last May as a graduation present. It was quick and easy and a very high quality product.
So I ended up with three slideshows...one of Charlie playing soccer through the years, one of Charlie "the early years" and one of Charlie "the journey to 21." Now sorting through and putting the pictures in order was no problem. But going through each one in preview mode...now that was another story. The music and the pictures running through really made me emotional...
The soccer slideshow showed Charlie playing on his first team in what we used to call "magnet ball!" All the kids would be all over the soccer ball...but there was Charlie out ahead of the pack and kicking the goal. The later photos showed him playing in the rec league and finally in high school. I could never get enough of him running up and down the field. He was SO FAST!!! I wish I had been able to use a digital camera during his early years. Then again, I would have had probably a thousand more photos to go through!
In the early years slideshow I placed all the school yearbook pictures up front so you see him from kindergarten through high school...then it starts with random shots of his baby years, toddler years and finally up to around 4th grade. The thing I noticed in all those pictures is what a sweet smile my boy has... He always just wanted to be friends with everyone too. He would meet a kid and an hour later he would call that kid his best friend. Such a heart of gold...
The last slideshow covered pictures from middle school until now. The one thing I regret is not taking more pictures of Charlie when he was in band. We would go to the high school football games and stay through the halftime show to watch Charlie play the tuba. I don't think I was aggressive enough in those days to just walk right up and take photos. I should have been. But I did have a decent supply and the photos I have show him having the time of his life with the tuba section! I also hardly have any photos of him as a Boy Scout. I know they are around but I couldn't locate many at all. Again, I wasn't the one going on the trips with him or campouts. Another lost opportunity but there were a handful of photos with his best friend Kendall so I included those.
Thank goodness for facebook and the photos I found there! Many of Charlie with friends from church youth group, his car friends and others. I made use of many of those...
The journey to 21 in pictures is like the journey to 21 in person, I would imagine. There are moments you wish you could have captured on film but didn't but you have good memories of those times. Likewise, I'm sure there are times in Charlie's life he wishes he had done something differently. Hopefully though, he learned something from that decision or he has good memories of an event or time. I hope when he looks back on his first 21 years and that he is happy about the journey so far.
I'm so proud of him and looking forward to capturing the next 21 years in photos and memories...
