Don’t Forget to Bring Your Camera – Gone Fishing

By: Holly Awwad of Holly Nicole Photography

I grew up in the swampy, backwoods of central Florida. We spent our days outside from sun up to sundown, basking in the sun and playing in the daily dose of warm afternoon rain. My dad was my guide on our daily adventures. I credit him for my lack of fear and my undeniable tom-boyish upbringing. We went looking for ‘gators, he hunted snakes, and we counted the flat frogs as we walked long stretches of dirt road. But nothing lives in my memory like fishing with my dad. From the time I could walk he taught me how to hold a fishing pole. At three years old, I could bait my own hook and real in a bass. Our fishing trips were magic moments that I’ll remember forever. Unfortunately, these memories will forever be locked up in the corner of my mind. Only he and I have access to these days gone by, and as time passes those days become more hazy. My fear is that someday they will fade away and never return. Back then, we didn’t have a camera to freeze time. I don’t have any photographs to refer back to when I can’t quite recall the details that were once so clear.

The good news is that I’m still very close with my father. We still get to go on our fishing trips, although these days they are much different than when I was a kid.

These days I have kids of my own that come with us. He has taught them to fish just like he taught me. They bait their own hooks and real in their own fish.

Just like me when I was a kid, they don’t mind getting dirty or touching the “yucky stuff”.

And these days I’m blessed enough to have a camera to capture the moments that he spends with them, record how he teaches them, and freeze the time that he sets aside just for them. These photographs will help him remember as time ages him. These photographs will help me give a gift to my girls so that when they are older they will remember the details they may have otherwise forgotten. These photographs… they are priceless. So I encourage you to go out and make your own memories. Live in the moment. Love every day. But don’t forget to bring your camera.

 

Holly, of Holly Nicole Photography,  is a stay-at-home Momtog of three girls ages 10, 7 and 18 months. She has been married to her high school sweetheart for 14 years and they live with their kids and fur babies in Michigan. She is passionate about everything photography, but mostly about documenting the life of her family.  Holly is very blessed to do what she loves, with the people she loves the most. Facebook