One of my greatest heartaches after Camille's death was the thought of taking family pictures. I was aching at the thought that I would never have a picture of my complete family. I was so grateful for the family pictures we had just taken 6 days before Camille's accident. They are priceless treasures to me. But I knew we would have more children and the thought of our next family pictures with the new addition(s) in them and no Camille ... well it was hard for me to even verbalize that thought.
I did mention that heartache once just weeks after Camille's death to my sister in law Elizabeth. (She is a photographer.) I broke down as I told her how sad I was to think I would never have a complete family picture.
Well on the one year anniversary of Camille's accident, at about the same time of day that our family forever changed, we went with Elizabeth to Balboa Park in San Diego to take our first "family pictures" with Noble. She sent me the slide show of the pictures last night late. I watched this morning and broke down again. Only this time my tears were not tears of heartache and sorrow. They were tears of gratitude and love.
I watched the slideshow and it felt... complete. It highlighted every member of our family, Camille included. I am grateful for such a beautiful family. I am grateful for the ties that bind us together beyond the realm of this mortal life. And I am grateful beyond words for Elizabeth and her hard work and talent that brought these photos to life.
