Day 6 - Mary's View

Day 6 - This is the camera where my love of taking pictures began.  It was Mom's camera.  I didn't get to use it very often, it was hers and she was very protective of it.  She took it with her everywhere. Friends and family of Mom knew they didn't have to worry about bringing a camera to an event if she was going to be there because Mary would have hers and she would take a lot of pictures.  She took pictures of birthdays, get togethers, weddings, showers, parties, and she loved to take pictures of her flowers.  I remember a few pictures she took that won awards.  She was proud of her camera and the photos she took with it.  I can't begin to count the number of rolls of film she purchased over the years.  She always developed the roll as soon as it was full, and of course she got doubles so she could share them with those who would enjoy them.

As this camera aged she took it in a few times to have it repaired.  I remember so clearly when she found out that they couldn't find the part needed to fix it the last time she took it in.  She contemplated getting a new film camera and I talked her into a digital one.  I told her she would be able to take hundreds of pictures on one single memory card, that she could print only the ones she wanted to print.  She bought a digital camera, she read all about it but she took less than a dozen pictures on the camera before she passed.

As I looked through all the many hundreds if not thousands of pictures in Mom's collection I realize that in some ways it isn't all bad to have had to develop those pictures.  There were some gems in there that had they not been printed I probably would never have noticed this person or that person in the background.  Later in her life I found it was a little easier to get her in front of the camera, because most years, like me, she was most comfortable behind the lens.  She wanted to take the pictures, not be in them.

This camera, although it doesn't work anymore, has inspired me to start taking pictures again.  It sits on a tri-pod in my living room surrounded by vintage cameras that I have received as gifts from my kids and have bought for myself and a canvas photo of a camera that reads Life is like a camera, Focus on what's important, Capture the good times, Develop from the negatives and if things don't work out Take another shot.

As we go out into the world, if you haven't been the person you want to be, take another shot at it.  I know that there are many things in my life that I need to focus on, and I am happy to have family and friends to help me make even more good times to capture.