Photos save memories

"Stop, grandma! There's a pin!"

I earned my living as a photographer. I documented the lives of others. Sadly, I was awful at documenting my own life. Of course, photography was a lot of trouble when I was young. Film and trips to the store for prints and oodles of expense. Still, none of that provides me with a good excuse.

Today's digital cameras have made all the above history. Today it is point, shoot and download. There are no excuses for not grabbing family photos. My granddaughter, Fiona, understands the value of photos. Images taken today jog one's memory tomorrow.

Recently Fiona helped her grandmother Judy sew some pajamas. Fiona watched for pins and told her grandmother when a pin had to be removed before it could possibly bend or break the needle. When it was time to reverse stitch, Fiona had her hand on the control.

There was one thing left to be done before the two finished the p.j.'s. Fiona had to get her grandfather, me, to take a picture of her sitting on grandma's knee while they completed the pajamas. Fiona said she wanted a picture so that when she was older she could take out the picture and remember the day.

The little kid understands the power of photography. Family photos jog the memory, encouraging us to recall pleasures from the past. (And, as one commenter very correctly pointed out, make a good print or two ASAP or risk losing the image in a disk drive malfunction. Save the image in multiple ways in multiple locations.)