It was my Nana’s birthday celebration and as she carefully pulled back the wrapping paper, I had a nervous excitement for the following reasons:
1. I had actually successfully waited until my Nana’s birthday celebration to give her her present. Usually I get so excited to give a person their gift, I give it to them as soon as I get it!
2. I wanted her to like my gift… I really wanted her to like it.
Rewind to one evening a while ago… I was over my Nana and Pop’s house for dinner. I grabbed my camera out of my bag right before dinner and asked if I could take a photo or two of them. Nana gently touched the back of her hair with her fingertips and said she hadn’t even used a curling iron on her hair that morning and didn’t have lipstick on. And, to top it all off, she was wearing a sweatshirt. I know – goodness me! Now, when Nana wears a sweatshirt it’s not the kind of hoody you throw on with a messy bun and yoga pants. No her sweatshirt was a perfectly bleached white ironed sweatshirt with a starch cleaned collar underneath. I reassured her she looked fine and told Pop to hug her. Pop held her close and they instantly smiled – it was just what I wanted. No frills and fixing, just them before a Sunday night dinner.
Fast forward now back to her party celebration… I handed her my gift and as she opened up the framed photo I waited in anticipation to see her reaction. She said it was lovely, which of course she had to say because I am her granddaughter and can do no wrong in her eyes. But later in the night when my mom and I were standing around next to her she picked up the photo frame again and stared – just studying it. Without looking up she concluded, This really looks like a professional photo. It was a backhanded compliment, but a compliment none the less and I was going to take it. It was one of the best backhanded compliments I had ever received.
My mom laughed and reminded my Nana that I am a professional photographer but I don’t think Nana heard as she was still fixated on the photo. All I could do was just smile and watch her with a quiet understanding. I was proud. In her eyes I was no longer her granddaughter that had this crazy dream of someday wanting to be a professional photographer. I wasn’t that little girl with 5 disposable cameras in my pocket who had now upgraded to a nicer big camera.
Realizing the backhandedness of her comment, she smiled and said, Oh you know what I mean. It’s us. I knew exactly what she meant. I had captured the essence of their 60+ years of love for one another without the frills and fixings that in her eyes she thought only a “professional” could possibly do. And now, I was one of them. I had made it.
Because I promised Nana the photo would be for just her and Pop (she still can’t believe she was wearing lipstick) and every post is just a little bit better with a photo, below are flowers from a recent wedding that I am obsessed with! I want a vase of flowers like this in each room of our house!
