My obsessiveness and I decided that our property was not complete without a tire swing. Of course, when the thought enters the mind, the body obliges (my husband loves this about me, wink wink).
We would have been much more cool if we made our own, but we didn't. Instead, I used the kids' consignment money, drove down to Tractor Supply with my date (he's persistent, that boy), and purchased a horse/tire swing.
Little did I know it would double as a pet.
Best purchase ever.
Everett has renamed him several times.
He gets pet, taken care of, sang to, fed...the kids love him (except for Carter who refuses to pretend a tire is a horse).
On Friday, our town got a little shaken by the instant death of a young mom. She was jogging and got hit by a car. It hits home on so many levels. I didn't know her personally but knew enough of her friends and family to see videos and images popping up all over Facebook in her memory.
It shook me.
Her daughter, age two, will never hear her voice again. But she has pictures and videos that she will cling to, to remind her of her mother and the love that they had for each other.
Having lost a parent, I know that void. That need to hear their voice, the desire to know more. What did they think of this or how did they handle that. I want to see my dad hug me. I want to see him laugh. I want to hear him sing.
The flood of thoughts and emotions changed everything about my perspective of technology. Of course, I still feel like it's overused and has attacked our families more than we know or care to admit, but had this mother chose not to have a smartphone, would these videos of her and her daughter exist?
Obviously, I make it a point to photograph our life. But if I leave, I leave very little of myself to them. They will know me by my writing but not my voice, my gestures... and that's why, on a whim, I bought a used smartphone. What a hypocrite (based on this post)! But God surely has a sense of humor.
I was also a bit convicted over not being in photographs with my kids...Jason either. It's something that's so important. I am not super comfortable on the other side of the camera for different reasons, but I never once thought that my children would one day appreciate being in a photo with me.
So we will see. I will at least have a phone filled with images and videos of things I would normally miss with my camera. Will they be tweeted or placed on Instagram? I don't know about that, but I have learned to never say never, always room for a little humility.
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-If you think of it, please do say a prayer for that young mom's family...as you can imagine, it's a lot to process and go through.