When a Picture is Worth More than a Thousand Words

When a Picture is Worth More than a Thousand Words

What is the value of a picture?
What worth does it hold?
Jammed in boxes in the bottom of your closet,
sealed in envelopes never opened.
Filed away till after someone's death,
or maybe laying dormant in some sleeping file on your computer.
Stashed away on a disk inside your camera on the top shelf,
or hidden among thousands on your phone.

What is the value of a picture?
What worth does it hold?
Is it worthless never to be thought of again,
Or does it hold the secrets of the past?

The value is much more than a thousand words.
Pictures capture that one smile, one of fifty smiles for the day.
One smile of thousands per year.
That new tooth smile, toothless smile or jagged teeth smile.
Proud parent smile, happy brother or sister smile.
I wish your grandparents could see you smile,
You are my pride and joy smile.

The value of a picture is more than a thousand words.
More than the thousands of tears that brought us to the place we are today.
The picture that reminds us of who our parents were,
who they are
and who they have helped us to be.
Pictures that reflect the impression of who makes up our personality,
He who has formed us,
Parents that have influenced us,
Friends that have guided us,
Teachers that have encouraged us,
and strangers that have humbled us.

Thousands of words can be spoken around one massive picture,
Looming in a grand room,
Begging the story to be told:
Of when you were five,
I remember when,
That good ol' time,
I'll never forget,
When you were just this big.

But, what happens when those pictures are gone?
What happens when tragedy takes those memories and they have fled?
Fled from your home,
your closets,
your cameras,
your computers,
and slowly your mind.

What happens when you can't remember
exactly anymore
what your child
looked like
coming home from the hospital in that outfit?

What if the words have all left with that picture?
And the memories have already started to fade.
The sadness has filled the void
of all lost things as you slowly realize,
the memories are lost,
the pictures,
and with those,
slowly the words.

They fade into looking at your children now,
Enjoying every minute,
but slowly forgetting...
Forgetting their facial features,
The stormy blue eyes,
just how much hair,
and tiny toes.

So what is the worth of a picture?
I would dare say the worth is something so grand.
So grand,
not only words cannot measure,
a price cannot either.
In lieu of a grandmother's soft hands encouraging you,
Or listening to you with her entire body,
Eyes,
Ears,
Body,
Heart.
The pictures of her,
those facial features
you hoped to pin point in your children,
gone.
And sadness
comes near
when you think of these pictures,
because you know they will not be replaced.
They can't.
Grandma will not be around for pictures,
nor will your children be newborns again.

Pictures tell a story.
In their vastness for a multitude of words,
they share many life times
of families,
joys,
struggles,
and victories.

So capture the moments,
now,
create new memories,
now,
tell your story through pictures
and share your thousands of words.

Time is fleeting,
Memories and moments are whisking away,
Like Cinderella at the ball,
the clock will strike twelve,
there will be a moment where it is too late.

So this picture
of our humble family
is worth more than a thousand words.
The price cannot be obtained.
The photographer will never
understand the magnitude
of what she captured.

Our family,
Our simple, happy family.
What is the value of a picture?
What worth does it hold?
The value is more than a thousand words.
Something so grand.

Photo by GenieLeighPhotography

GenieLeighPhotography

Thank you Megan!