She left proof {Aleida’s Challenge}

For this post I went back to the year Biggest Brother was born to pull out just some simple candids of me with the kids. I purposely chose pictures that aren’t “great” photographs…just run of the mill shots. Most are of Biggest and Big Brother….I lost track of time looking at old pics. In fact the only one with Littlest Brother is the second on the top row, the only one with my daughter is the third on the bottom row. It is amazing how many of Big Brother look like Littlest Brother (like under the “mommy” circle)

Last week I mentioned I was speaking to a group of women in Glenpool…I also mentioned that I was excited about a project they were working on. Well, I had a great time with those ladies. They were gracious and hopefully they enjoyed what I shared – I am in no way a speaker. I think I did a lot of rambling. The project they are working on is called “She Left Proof”. Here is a brief summary from the flickr group dedicated to this…it is well worth your time to read it. The below is written by Emilie Ahren:

“Many scrapbookers knew Aleida Franklin. She was a wonderful wife and mother and a brilliant artist. I didn’t know Aleida personally, but she taught me something I will never forget.

She emailed me last year to tell me she loved my blog and to ask if I liked my short hair-cut. This lead to a series of emails which eventually led me to remark that I really loved how often she posted pictures of herself with her children on her blog. And she replied to me, “Have you ever seen a photograph of your own mother and thought to yourself how fat she looked? Or how she wasn’t wearing make-up? Or wasn’t dressed in a glamorous outfit?” Of course my answer was no.

She then responded with saying that she made it a goal to take a picture of herself with her children at least once every month. And that to use excuses about how we look, as women, is ridiculous, since our children will never care what we looked like, but only that we had physical evidence of the bond between mother and child.

Aleida tragically and unexpectedly passed away in an auto accident in September of 2008, leaving 2 small children and a grieving husband. After she passed I thought of how those children must feel to have those precious photographs. I have made it my personal goal to follow her wise suggestion and I try to take photos of myself with my children….double chins, make-up free, bed-head and all.

I invite Mothers everywhere to take Aleida’s Challenge. To photograph yourself with your children each and every month. And to post them here so that we can see Aleida’s legacy unfolding.”

Powerful. I love looking back at pictures of my mom – especially her LONG 70s hair. What a great challenge this is to moms (and dads) – to get over how we look in pictures and capture ourselves with our kids. So grab your camera, a tripod, a friend or a spouse and capture yourself with those important to you!