Fascinating Saturday Part 2

So, this is Part 2 of my Fascinating Saturday tale, and we left off after I had taken pictures at a very loving 50th Anniversary Party.  The hubs and I drove an hour home, discussing what we had just experienced, and also talking a bit about the weather.  The morning shoot had been overcast, and while it had been humid and stuffy, the sun hadn't beat down on us.  It was a fortunate thing, because when I photograph in wide open spaces, bright sun can be a real enemy for good exposure and pleasant expressions.  And there were no areas of open shade at the lake house where the party had been held, so the cloudy skies gave me much more freedom to position the large groups of people without having to worry about them squinting in the sun.

As we made the drive north back to Sidney, we could see the weather was changing, however.  

Hard, bright blue skies revealed themselves, and we went from cloudy-humid to sunny in a matter of 60 miles.  It wasn't burning hot (yet).  The second task of the day was a Mommy-To-Be, and I really wanted to do some outdoor work.  I had chatted with the Mom earlier in the week, and we had decided to stay indoors initially, and then maybe zip out to Waubonsie State Park for a few shots at the end. We messaged and made the call to head out to the Park first, simply because it wasn't nearly as warm as it had been the past week (yet!) and the Mom was on somewhat of a time crunch.  We had a couple hours at most, and I didn't want to miss the opportunity for outdoor work if Mom got tired, as folks who have been gestating for 35 weeks or so tend to do.  

So, we met and did some outdoor work with a literally GLOWING Mom, Daddy-To-Be, and cute but not extremely enthusiastic Soon-To-Be big brother.  The photographs are beautiful.  Just what I had envisioned when we booked the Session.  Location, location, location is so huge.  And in the meantime, as we shot, it got warmer.

Sweat trickled down my rib cage as I worked, and even the shady spots we found were stuffy, buggy caves of dimness, not cool oases as I had hoped.  Consequently, I worked fast.  The Studio was waiting for us as soon as we got what we needed, and I didn't want to keep Mom hot and uncomfortable any longer than I had to.  Big Brother wasn't incredibly pleased with the day's activities either, but he did throw us a few bones.  

Then Brother headed off with Aunt to the family swimming pool (lucky kid!) and Mom, Dad, Mike and I took off for the relative cool of the Studio to finish up.   And when we got there, we did our thing again, this time without the perspiration, and made some more memories for this family.  During, we made small talk about our recent vacation to Colorado (I want to live there SO BADLY) and other things.  And then they were off to their evening's activities and I began to download and back-up files with a big glass of ice water in my hand.  

On the back of my piano in my living room, I have an 8x10 photograph of me, pregnant with my last child.  If you didn't know it was me, well, it could be anyone, because it is just a belly with my hands and a tulip, done up in black and white with a little tinting.  I was a few days away from delivery, and I set up the Studio for my husband to make a few shots, JUST OF THE BELLY, mind you.  I remember not even having my hair done for those shots.  I was enormous, gigantic.  I was a planet, with my own massive gravitational field.  I remember feeling heavy, lumbering, cumbersome, and clumsy.  I remember not being able to sleep for longer than about 2 consecutive hours during the last couple months.  I remember eating everything in sight (ah, so being hugely pregnant DOES have its compensations!)  I remember my 3 other children, small then, the youngest barely 3 and just out of diapers, circling me for attention and for reassurance that they would still be loved after the new one came.  And I remember thinking, a little crazily "Here we go again!".  It turns out that it was the last time.  I was 34 when my baby, Sailor,was born.

As I edit these images of this little family, getting ready to add another to their circle, all those crazy days come back.  The hospital, the births, the diapers and the feedings.  Getting NO SLEEP for days or weeks or months and I can't remember because from the time I was 26 til the time I was 34 I had 4 kids and unless I wrote it down, it was a blur, let me tell you.  And holding the baby afterwards, smelling of that baby lotion that comes in the pink bottle---when I smell it now, I am transported utterly back to baby bath-time.  

And that is where the entire day all came together for me.  Those two people who were celebrating their 50th Anniversary had started out just like the little family I had just photographed, and they had started out just like me.  They had lived through it all, baby years, teen years (where I am now), college, grand babies, fire, feast, famine, pestilence, and all the slings and arrows every marriage and family takes as they ride the gauntlet together.  And look what they did.  In this world of EASY buttons, of NOW, of ME, of MINE, they had navigated successfully.  

My Mom-To-Be---I used to be her, with a belly full of hopes and dreams and feet swollen so badly it hurt to walk down the hall.  And my Anniversary couple and their family---with a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work, I just MIGHT have that to look forward to.  That COULD BE me!  Someday.  

I love my job.