For 10 years and 9 months, I have waited for this day. This was the day that I would finally be able to unveil my photographic masterpiece of Jackson that the kind Sears Studios did for me in 1999. You see, I was a first time mom and wanted desperately for my angel to be immortalized in film. So the kind people at Sears made my dreams come true! Right after Jack’s big photo shoot I remember going to the food court to eat Chic-Fil-A with my hubby and to show him the most magical pictures ever taken. As we sat there he asked the usual…how did it go? I responded with the hurried grab of my baby bag to show him the proofs. He stared quietly at the photos while I rattled off the bargain coupon price I received for buying the Monster package. This package was to include every size known to man and a canvas portrait that I felt would look perfect over the mantle. Jack continued to be quiet until I uttered the words which I regret all the time for saying, “Don’t you love them?” He proceeded to give me a 15 minute verbal dissection of why no man with a son wants to see him in tulle, feathers and a halo. He also said that there is no way that it is going to be ok to put this on the mantle….no boy is ever going to want to see himself like that. Then he went on to say that basically we need to bury this deep in a closet and forget that I did this to him. He mentioned that at some point he might have a flashback in a therapy session and only then would we admit to what we did and then in a “safe” place would we show him the photo.
Well, the time has finally come. No one is going to put my baby angel in the corner any longer….and the 5th grade recognition requested a current photo and a baby one. I had to look no further than the giant envelope filled with his heavenly photo shoot sitting in the back of my craft closet. Today….Baby Angel was posted on the Truman Hallway Bulletin Board. It was a giant accomplishment for all of us Mom’s who took terrible pictures of our children as babies. I have to say he was not alone in the awkward photo shoots common in 1999. So here’s to you Jackson….you will always be my Baby Angel!