In April 2009, my heart was handed to me in the form of a little pink baby we call Riloh. By the time my little turnip was 3 months old, I had taken more than 3000 photos of her and I'm pretty sure she thought my face was made by Canon.
Don't believe me? I wouldn't either. But, I promise you; it's true.
By the end of her first year I was overwhelmed by the amount of images I had created of my little peanut butter and at a loss for what to do with all of them! I decided I would make a slideshow of my favorites and store the rest for another day when I had more time, more energy and more ideas! That day has YET to come.
Nearly 5 years later, thousands more images stored on discs and hard drives and a few splattered on the walls of our home, it was evident that I was creating a mountain I could never climb. Sure, I could just stop taking pictures of her, that would solve the problem of the additional photo accumulation. Or maybe take less pictures of her? hmmm...tell that to a new mother!
I knew why I was taking so many photos, it was simple. I wanted to show her a time that she couldn't remember on her own. A time when she was so small she fit in one of her daddy's hands, a time when she wrote her name on a Magna Doodle all by herself, a time when she sat on the floor with her doberman and fed him popcorn.
When she is all grown up (no, I don't want to talk about it!) I don't want to hand her a unreadable disc, or a hard drive that won't spin, or a website that was removed. I want to hand her tangible memories, ones that come with details and stories. Memories she can share with her kids. And so I decided.
I will take just one photo a day for an entire year.
Each day I will seek to capture Riloh doing whatever it is Riloh happens to be doing. Some photos will be of just her and some will have the ones she loves, the things she loves or something about her. Most will be happy and fun and some may be sad but, all of them will document a year of her life that will be printed and kept for her until she is ready. I will write a little something each day to explain to her why the photo was significant and hopefully as she reads them she will gain a little insight into her life as a babe.
I know these moments are fleeting.
I know my face shouldn't be stuck in a camera when I could be "present in the moment".
I know she won't see the importance until much later in life.
Yada, yada.
I also know that I am giving her something she will never be able to receive from anyone else. That we can relive each of these moments together over a glass of wine on Thanksgiving in 2030.
Because of all of this, I started and am determined to finish my 365 project. I encourage you to find your reason and start documenting, it will be a year they will remember forever...literally!
Here's a little peek at my 365 "Dear Riloh":
Day 96: Dear Riloh, you received a super cool hand-me-down scooter today and couldn't wait to try it out. Some things are just more fun in your swimsuit anyway!
