My photo was chosen as this week’s first place winner in I Heart Faces contest! I am humbled because for me it’s a photo that represents a part of my life that I hold close to my heart. The last months of my mother’s life when I visited her each week at her nursing home. I would bring lunch to Grace Presbyterian Village and we would eat at Louise’s Café and have whatever conversation she was able to have on that particular day.
The day this photo was taken, Mom was so happy because her son was visiting from Arizona. She didn’t always remember the faces of the people she saw every day, but she never forgot her children. And when my brother Joe walked into her room, her face brightened and her heart was free.
I’m so happy I took pictures that day. I think of her as Cinderella in this picture. With ‘Prince Charming’ giving her the kiss that awakens and gives her life and love all over again. There is something about the love of her child, no matter how old, that fills a mother’s heart with joy so radiant that it bursts out of every pore and is unable to be contained.
Winning the contest was a great honor for me, but the memories that it evoked were a reminder to savor every moment and capture the memories that mean the most while they’re right in front of us.
