just shoot it.

Two years ago when Josh started his PhD program, he also started teaching at FSU. The English department every year holds a teaching “boot camp,” where the faculty spends six weeks teaching new masters’ and PhD students how to teach English composition to unwieldy first year students. That’s where Josh met Liz (and by extension, Sam, her partner and my comrade within the English department as a Spouse). Lindsey at the time was about 1 and a half, and was incredibly shy and touchy around strangers. A few times, Liz and Sam would help Josh pick the kids up, and as soon as Lindsey spotted Liz and Sam she would burst into wailing sobs of tears.

Slowly, though, Lindsey steeled herself up and prepared herself for seeing new people and then Liz and Sam became her friends. She looked forward to the times when we would go out for ice cream or see them and then today! Magical today! We all went out to dinner tonight before Liz and Sam travel back home for the summer, and Lindsey sat next to Sam and chatted with him pretty much the entire time. She marveled at his tattoos, delighted in his plates of pasta, and I think at one point he helped her put a shoe on. I can tell she is going to miss them as much as we are:

Matthew spent dinner sitting between Liz and Sam, and played Wonderpets with Liz, also marveled in Sam’s tattoo, and was delighted that Liz buttered some bread for him. Here they are all together.

I took the above photos with my iPhone, and processed them at home because I am a black and white freak. These aren’t too shabby, and I am forever grateful and humbled to have access to technology that allows me to do this with ease. When I first got into serious photography, I spent hours and hours pouring over websites and learning about f-stops and lighting and digital SLRs – which are all important for professional photographers when they’re capturing professional portraits. But when you’re with your kids or friends, the device you use doesn’t matter as much as having a camera period. They say the most important camera is the one you’ve got on hand, so be it a fancy schmancy Canon or Nikon, or your Android or iPhone, just shoot it. Remember those moments and cherish them.