Mama,

Take the picture, no matter what’s in the background. I was searching through old photos on the computer to find one in particular (to no avail), but the longer I looked, the more my heart filled with joy as I saw smile after smile of my kids in their childhood messes.

I went past the formal pictures–the first day of school, the staged family pictures, etc.

But I lingered on the simple moments–mismatched outfits, messy faces from ice cream, playing in a room with toys everywhere, helping Daddy with a task.

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