The Picture

We had a lot of pictures taken at our wedding—a lot of pictures. We had two photographers and two videographers, so there weren’t many pictures that we missed. However, out of all those pictures, there is one perfectly perfect one.

It wasn’t a staged one. It wasn’t one I had on my infamous “list” to have taken. I didn’t know it had been taken. I didn’t even see this one until nearly a month after we’d been married. Yet is it my favorite of all of them. Why? Because in one single image our relationship was captured—frozen forever on Fuji Photo Film.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but I’ll try not to use quite that many to explain it. In the picture I’m doing what I’m always doing—directing traffic. Since it was taken during the photo session following our wedding and since we didn’t see each other before the wedding and since my husband’s immediate family had 26 people in it at the time, there was a lot of traffic to direct. There were certain pictures that I wanted, and we had a small window of opportunity to get them taken.

In short, I was occupied.

The picture shows me, looking off-camera, pointing to someone and explaining what I want done. My dress that day didn’t make doing things myself an option, so I had to rely on everyone else. It’s easy to see that I’m intent on getting whomever it is to do whatever it is I want done immediately.

As funny and point-blank as I am what makes the photo poignant is what my newlywed husband is doing. What’s that? Exactly what he always does—he’s taking care of me.

As my attention is elsewhere, he’s standing there patiently picking tiny pieces of birdseed out of my hair. The thing is, he looks like he’s got not another thing in the world to do, not one other thing to worry about. Amazing. Us in living color.

Many, many times since that photo was taken we’ve relived that moment. Me taking care of others, me ordering the world around us, him patiently taking care of me. Now, twelve years later, during the present incarnation of our relationship, I’m the one out there trying to learn new things. I’m the one out there taking us out of our comfort zone, pulling us in directions we never could have seen or imagined at that moment.

But the thing is, I can take those chances, chase those dreams because I know with no doubt that he will always be right there, patiently keeping me together. It’s how we’ve always been. I have the proof.