What We Keep

There has to be some sort of line.  

In this digital age, when it is entirely possible to take 50 photos and not have to worry about wasting money on film and developing, how do we choose which of them to keep?

There has to be a line between photos we take because we think his grandparents would want to see him with his face covered in cereal, wearing the shirt they bought for him, and the ones we take to keep.  And cherish.  And post on our mantle (not that I have a mantle.....or think it would be a good idea to give me some sort of large, open, shelfy space that would inevitably become a home for un-placeable things).  And show to his dates when he is in high school.  And look at several times a day when he is a teenager and won't come out of his room and won't let his dear mummy talk to him either, and I'll think, "oh, my sweet little boy.  I do love you, and I know you will love me again too." 

I am constantly and obsessively looking for this photo.  Every time I hold the eyepiece up to my face and press that button to hear the magical sound of the shutter capturing another instant, I wonder, "is this it?"  Is this my photo? 

John Steinbeck thought that each and every writer has just one story in them.  Even if they manage to tell a lot  of stories over their career, only ONE will define them.  You spend your whole life trying to get onto paper this one story you hold inside of you, and after you have finally done it (which, according to him, is Grapes of Wrath) you just keep writing because you simply don't know how not to.  

So maybe I'll just have to keep looking for my story.  Or maybe, photographs count as just a part of a story, so I will just have to keep going until I feel that my story has been told.

Here is a chapter.  Definitely for keeping.

Love, 

Cara