Me! (July Photos, Day 1)

 

Before I get to the daily photo, I’ll begin with sad news:  the passing of my father-in-law.  While his short illness was pretty severe and didn’t leave much hope for recovery, it was sudden, and he’d been so healthy up until then that we were holding out hope for something of a miracle.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be.  But I’ll take the granting of enough remaining time that Brian was able to get home in time to be with his family at the time of the passing.  Sadly, Pop was not alert, and there’s no real proof that he even knew Brian—or anyone else—was there, but I choose to believe that he did. 

It’ll be a hard week for Brian and his siblings as they plan services and begin to deal with the estate, but at least they’ll have each other to lean on.  And, while it’ll never really be easy, their grief will get easier and they’ll eventually be able to look back on their memories and be happy for what they had instead of sad for what they’ve lost.  And everyone knows how much Pop has missed his wife since she passed on last year; there’s comfort in knowing not only that he’s no longer suffering, but that he’s with his only love again.

 Summer of 1990, Me & Brian with Mom & Pop

As for photo a day, the first July prompt is one of my not-favorites:  self portrait.  As I think I’ve said before, pictures of myself aren’t high on my list of fun times.  But I’m trying to get better about that.  It’s another random thing that losing weight is helping with, actually.  First, because I’m trying to take a couple of photos of myself at least a few times a year to document my journey, so I’m getting more practice.  And, secondly, I don’t look as bad anymore!  Always easier to document your life—including yourself—in pictures when you don’t cringe just to look at them. 

So, anyway, I did take a few selfies today, and found I didn’t hate them, so I think I’m still making progress.  Of course, it might be a little bit of cheating to wear the hat, since it was sort of like a costume and made me feel less like myself, but it is still me.