A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words.

Ok so I have sat down and started to write this post 3 times over the last three weeks and each time something pulls me away. So I am sitting here now – the house is still sleeping and damnit I’m going to finish it this time!

I feel like so much has happened since I last posted but there really hasn’t - just every day stuff. Oh wait, how could I forget - remember all that rain a few weeks ago? Well it ended up in my basement!

Through the 12,000 gallons of water in my basement I was reminded that pictures are worth a thousand words. Pictures tell the stories of our lives. Pictures evoke feelings of happiness and sadness. Pictures hold our memories.

When the basement flooded, I had pictures down there from my childhood, my little’s baby pictures, ultrasound pictures, letters and cards. I had my Mom’s baby pictures, her childhood pictures, her school memory book – everything was down there. I know, I know – “Kate why didn’t you have them in plastic totes?” you ask. Well, some I did and some I didn’t. Fun fact – totes freakin’ float when there is a foot and a half of water chillin’ in your basement. Oh, and when totes flip over because they are floating – the water seeps in…then they sink!

Anyway, throughout the pain staking process of peeling wet pictures apart, putting them on drying racks, and drying them with a hairdryer I was able to take a nice long walk down memory lane. Pictures of my littles hours after they were born – Ry’s cute little nose and Lydia’s little pink lips. I saw the joy, exhaustion, and excitement in mine and my husband’s faces. I saw me as a little kid sitting on a skateboard going down the hill in front of the barn on my Grandparent’s farm. I saw my high school years all over again – field hockey, friends, spirit week, graduation.

I also saw my Mom. I saw her when she was a baby in her Dad’s arms. I saw her as a kid with her cousins. I saw her in high school – being cooler than she ever told me she was! I saw her and my Dad. I saw her holding me as a baby. I saw her and I playing dress up when I was a toddler. I saw her being goofy, trying to embarrass me when I was in school (which usually worked). I saw her and I becoming friends – not just Mother and Daughter. I also saw the last picture taken of my Mom and I before she passed away.

Over the 4 days that I dried and sifted through the pictures there were so many emotions that I went through.

I was happy.

I was sad.

I was overwhelmed.

I was excited.

I was angry.

I was content.

I was at peace.

I was joyful.

I was thankful.

But most of all - I was happy.

Through this experience I realized that the pictures and all of the feelings that I went through are the story of my life. There is A LOT of happy but there is some great sadness and a whole lot of in between. It isn’t one or two big things that define you or your life – it is everything. The big and the small – the happiness and the sadness.

Now I will not say that I am happy that the basement flooded but I will say that I am grateful that it provided me the opportunity to remind myself that life is a ton of amazing moments that make up who we are.

I could not have made it through these memories (including the flooded basement) without my family and my friends by my side. You know who you are – love you forever.