These photos aren't for you. They're for your kids

I struggled a bit with this post. Apart from writing it, there is a moral issue at stake here and I am a bit conflicted because I don't want it to sound self-promotional but at the same time I think it's important to talk about it... so here goes.

Offering help in time of a death is a strange thing. People close to the family have to organize a funeral and there is almost no time for grieving and there's hardly an appropriate time for laughter... until you look at old photos. Hence the title. 

One of my closest friends lost his mother recently. She was a lovely, sweet woman and I will miss her.  

As I am helping my friend go through old family pictures for the funeral, we found an emotional space that we rarely get access to as human beings: laughter coated in grief and sadness. I am not going to become a stand up comedian any time soon and fashion choices from the 1970s and 80s are easy targets but we had a great time. Him because he was laughing, remembering moments of 20/30 years ago with his mom in fondness, me because I saw my friend laughing instead of crying as I was cracking jokes about weird mustache choices and very (very!) loud shirts his brother chose to wear. 

From the point of view of a Photographer, here's what made me sad though; he told me he felt very guilty about pushing back the date of an ADITL (A Day In The Life) session I promised him for his birthday a year ago because he wanted to lose the weight first. Now, it's too late. 

Don’t wait until it’s too late.