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| Mr. & Mrs. Incredible with their second granddaughter |
You’ve heard the saying, “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words,” but most often when you see a touching picture, you don’t know the story behind the picture. Those thousand words are usually something you never imagined. A touching picture can conjure up many happy words behind it – joy, love, compassion, caring, tenderness, happiness. The list goes on and on. But there are plenty of words you don’t see. And that is the true meaning behind every photograph. I often look at old photographs of my ancestors and wonder what they were feeling, what they were celebrating, why the picture was taken, etc. Many times one doesn’t even think about the photographer and what they were feeling and thinking.
My darling daughter, Violet, took this photograph. I know what she was thinking because she promptly published it on Facebook and Instagram. Here are her hashtags – #bubba (Slovak for grandma), #Papa, #slovak, #thelittlethings, and #blessings. She obviously feels blessed to have shared in this moment with us. Immediately after this photo was taken I looked up to see her putting her phone down. I didn’t even know she had taken it out.
This picture depicts my husband and I holding our second granddaughter. She is about a month old. It looks like a touching photo of a man and his wife sharing a moment, but it is so much more. This is a photograph of a man unable to hold his granddaughter on his own. The photograph taken two weeks after bypass surgery shows Mr. Incredible who is still 6 weeks away from being able to hold over 5 lbs. Granddaughter number two weighs more than 5 lbs. What you don’t see in this photograph is that Mr. Incredible has an ability that I do not possess. He can take the crankiest grandbaby and calm them. He got this trait from his mom. I, on the other hand, have been granted the unique ability to wind the children up as only an obnoxious aunt can do. I can pump them full of sugar, give them big sloppy loud kisses, let them play in the mud until they are unrecognizable, conduct numerous messy science experiments, read stories for hours on end, and then send them home! I fully expect to hear a lot of “but grandma lets me” in the future.
I value the moments my husband spends holding his grandchildren. Many times only a wife can know what her husband wants or needs, but most often I become too busy to see, and because Mr. Incredible is far too humble and quiet, he doesn’t speak up about his needs often enough. I know that Mr. Incredible really likes to hold his grandchildren, but he usually waits until everyone else has had a turn. So too often he doesn’t hold those precious little grandbabies for long, and now he isn’t able to hold them or pick them up at all. But due to the grace of God Papa has been given another chance at life, and for that we are all thankful.
So this photograph shows Bubba holding her grandchild into the arms of Papa who isn’t allowed to pick up and hold a child. Papa is overwhelmed at the joy of being alive to hold his grandchild, and Bubba is delighted that she was there to share the moment. So while this picture shows jubilation, affection, kindness, compassion, and devotion, it also shows sorrow at the moments that we squandered. It shows regret for being too busy for too many years. It shows worry on my part – is he holding too much weight on his arms? It shows eagerness to be able to get back to doing physical lifting. But most importantly it shows a thankfulness to be able to share the moment together, and it shows an appreciation for the moment by the photographer.
We are not guaranteed tomorrow, but through photographs we can savor moments today. I look at this picture, and I see that 1) A man blessed to hold his granddaughter for the first time after surgery, 2) I thought about someone else before myself for a moment and by doing so, I was the one blessed, 3) my amazing photographer daughter saw a moment worth capturing, and 4) due to the advent of cell phones, we can capture beautiful moments without the subjects even knowing. Every time I look at this photo, I see the real story – a quiet man filled with love for his family.
I have linked to Mommy and Me Monday over at Really, Are You Serious?
I have linked to Mommy and Me Monday over at Really, Are You Serious?
Reviewing movies for parents from a Christian perspective since 2005. Know Before You Go!
Christian Homeschooling mom – 30 years and counting
Autism Mom & Disney enthusiast
Thanks for your kind words. He can now hold her on his own! We are thankful for the little things daily!
I love this story. Such a sweet moment I'm so glad your daughter was able to capture. I know it was so important to him to hold her and that you were the one there able to offer the support needed to do so.
Thank you for stopping by and commenting. It is always difficult to share your heart and when you know you have touched someone, it makes it a little easier.
Thank you! I don't feel incredible most days, but I'm working on it.
So beautiful. <3
Patty, this is so lovely! Yes he is Mr Incredible, but you are his Mrs. Incredible!