Car Washing with Dad & The Importance of Preserving These Special Moments

Recently we were on vacation and spending time with my parents at their home. During the last morning there my son opened a corner table cabinet and found a bunch of old photo albums. He immediately wanted to look through them, so he sat down next to me and we flipped through page by page. I was pointing to pictures and asking him questions like "do you know who that is" and "did you know daddy did that when he was your age"?

We flipped through the whole album. And the whole time he commented on photos and made connections to what he remembers. He'd say things like, "I like the beach too" and "I do that". Each comment and expression meant the world to me at the moment.

One of the photos we stopped on was of me at about 3-years old, just a little younger then my son right now, washing the car with my dad - really just spraying water everywhere. I don't remember the moment (I was only like 3 at the time), but the way my son keyed in on the photo made me think, what memories I want to preserve for my son so that he can one day sit down with a photo album and have the same experience I was having with him.

Last week, when I decided to wash my car, my son got super excited. He was telling me all about washing mom's car earlier, and how he knew what stuff we needed (soap, bucket, water, etc), and how he needed his step stool to help him reach. He even went as far as collecting half the stuff by himself.

Of course, any time I can I like to take pictures of my son, but this time the photos had a little bit more meaning behind them. Especially since this was the first time he really helped wash the car.

As I think about it, if my son hadn't pulled out that photo album and if I hadn't taken the time and opportunity to look through those photos with him, would the simple event of washing the car with him meant as much to me? Would the photos I created to document him helping me wash the car mean as much as they do now? If those things hadn't happened, I'd still look fondly on the memory of washing the car with my son. But now, now I have a deeper story to tell him and a fonder memory to share with him.

That's the reason for preserving these special moments. So that I can remember and preserve them to share with my son later; so that he can share similar moments with his children.

What moments are important for you to preserve?  How can I help you preserve those moments?

Whether it's through senior photos, family photos, photographing your child at a sporting event, or something else, I'd love to help you preserve your family's special moments.

​No matter how mundane or simple, sometimes it's not the event/action itself we are preserving, but the story that goes along with.