Generations

This is one of my all time favorite photos. It's a four generation photo with me (I'm the baby), my mom (middle), my grandma Larson (left) and my great-grandma Crocket (holding me). I have several fond memories of great-grandma Crocket. She lived in a tiny house with one bedroom and one bathroom. I was told that the bedroom and bathroom were added much later. She raised 12 kids in that house!! Even as a little girl I remembered being amazed that they all lived there! She died when I was 13. I remember her as a tiny and sweet lady who always had cookies. She was known in her very large family for those cookies. We called them "grandma cookies." I'm not even sure what kind they were, but they were large and yummy. Attempts were made to get the recipe, but she was the type of cook that just put a little of this and a little of that when she cooked. Not many people can say they knew their great-grandparents. I'm so glad I have wonderful memories of her! And this picture has become even more important to me now that all 3 of these women are gone.

When I became a grandma, that made my grandpa Larson a great-great-grandpa! How many people make it to be a great-great-grandparent! Anyway, I'm so glad that my son had the presence of mind to have this photo taken. As it turned out my grandpa lived several more years and had several more great-great-grandkids before he passed away. But, what if he didn't and we hadn't take this picture!

I know I talk a lot about writing things down for your kids and grandkids, but family photos are also super important too. So I thought I'd share these photos and suggest that you take some like it. It doesn't matter how many generations you have right now, just take as many pictures as you can before another generation is gone!

It seems to me that we make having a family photo taken way too complicated. Of course it's nice to have a family photo taken while everyone is dressed up. But, doesn't have to be fancy. You don't need everyone to be color coordinated. Just get everyone together and take those pictures!