Personal Story: Family

Sometimes I just get this feeling... some would call it a gut instinct, others a nudge from God. Either way, the last time I was around my Papa (my Mom's Dad) when he was feeling decent I was passing through to shoot a wedding in his hometown. David and I had all our gear in the car... I just got this feeling that I needed to record our time visiting with my Papa that day. So after some pictures of him with my Mom David grabbed this one of Me, my sister and my Mom with my Papa...

I am so glad that we grabbed this image among others that day. Yesterday I attended my Papa's funeral and celebrated his life. I got to hear more stories about his life growing up on the mountain where he helped build the Blue Ridge Parkway (at the time "Starline Drive"). I was surprisingly touched by the military portion of the service where we honored my Papa for his time serving in World War II.

When my other grandfather passed away, I had this same feeling. With Papa he was sick and we knew it was coming soon. With my other grandfather he died suddenly of a heart attack. A few weeks before he had the heart attack the whole family was together and I just had this feeling it was important to get a picture of my grandfather with my dad and my uncle.

It may not be the most important to you, but it is so important to me to have my family and friends documented. It sounds so cliche but I believe it is totally worth the time to snap a few images of those people you love...

you never know what might happen before you see them again...