Ghost Town in the Sky

When we see a photograph of our childhood we are immediately transported back to that very moment in time.  We can even remember the smells, the sights and the small minute details of our adventure.  For instance in this picture my sister and I had a mad crush on Israel Boone from the old TV program.  Having our picture made with him absolutely made our day, our week, I dare say even our year!  We were in Ghost Town North Carolina and had just taken our very first ride on a chair lift to get to that gun slingin town where the “good” guys and the “bad” guys shot each other down in a gunfight.  It seemed so real to us with a saloon where we drank sarsaparillas (root beer) and cowboys actually fell down from the top of buildings when they were shot.  Trust me we were in the big time!  We were just a struggling family that had scraped together enough money to travel from Raleigh to “Ghost Town in the Sky”.  Israel however was used to travel and used to things we could only dream about.  In fact his older sisters had to coax him into having his picture made with us by offering him a candy reward.  I remember thinking that he was spoiled yet I still wanted to have my picture made with him because somehow that made me feel special.  We got to go back to school and proclaim that we had met “the” Israel Boone and we have a picture to prove it.  That was close to 50 years ago and still I love to see this picture.

So we have a family, a setting and a camera to capture those special times in our lives that can only be relived through photographs.  What a powerful tool a camera is to bring the mind back to a certain event.  It is amazing to me that I can look at the numerous photographs that I have taken and tell you who I was with, where I was, what I was thinking and almost always I can remember the shot that I missed.  So whether you are in front of the camera or behind the camera that moment is ingrained in our memories forever.

Oh the things you can see when you get older.  As I told you, I thought I was special because I had my picture taken with someone special.  But actually we were the special ones, the ones who were so excited to have the adventure, the ones who were grateful to have the chance to be there, and the ones who to this day are special in each others eyes.  I was lucky for sure that day but the lucky part was having my parents, my brother and my sister by my side making the memories that day.

God made us all special and gave us special people to journey through this life with, be it our parents, our siblings, our children or our friends.  Next time you pick up your camera think about the person you are photographing and try to capture the “specialness” of the subject and the moment!