A photo I didn't know I needed

The photo that I didn’t know I’d need. Glen and boys on a mission to capture prey. 2023

As I sat in church last week, the music team played a modern take on an old hymn. And as often happens, my memory was brought back to a familiar face.

The lovely face of Glen, an elder from the church I grew up in. 

Whenever I hear hymns I often think of him. My association of him with hymns probably has a lot to do with how much he fought to make sure we continued to sing hymns in church even while worship music modernized over the last 30 years.

Glen and my boys searching for frogs. 2023.

More than that though, he holds such fond memories for me growing up. I grew up in a small town without any extended family, which meant that I had really limited interactions with my grandparents, and even less with my grandfather since he died when I was quite young.

But as I grew up I remember Glen always joking with us kids, poking fun at us, rolling his eyes at our antics, giving us giant bear hugs, or in true grandfather-ish style, giving me the side eye if I made too much noise in church.

And even as the years passed and I grew up and moved away, it was always a delight to catch up with him when I got a chance to go home and see him in the pew.

Two summers ago he invited us over for lunch at his place, and for the first time he got to hang out with my boys.The three of them took to catching frogs in the river.

Unsuspecting frog in pond. 2023

It was a simple lunch. Completely uncomplicated, and super typical of small-town life. There was nothing monumental about it other than that we were spending time together.

I snapped some pictures, and banked the memory in that place in our minds where memories go.

But Glen passed away this year.

And now this simple photo of this simple lunch is anything but simple. It’s profound, at least to me.

Glen and boys on a mission to capture prey. 2023

When I think about the moments I’ve captured that take up the most space in my heart, it’s not usually the special days. It’s the everyday ones.

So often we want to bring out the camera or hire a photographer for the big events - the birthdays, the anniversaries, the births. It's easy to understand why and it’s wonderful to capture those days. But what about everyday life? What about those simple, uncomplicated, frog-seeking lunches?

The family hikes. The bike rides in the park. The camping trips. The annual family cookouts. Those moments matter and they're my favourite stories to tell.

Let us not forget those days.