memory thief

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Lilli Day aka bookbabie

This is a photo of the oldest, dearest man in my life, my dad, and the newest, sweetest boy in my life, my little grandson taken two weeks ago at Ashton’s 1st birthday party. This is why I fell in love with photography when I was just a teenager. Because a photograph is never just a photograph. The light and shadows of an image hold the mercy and vulnerability of life itself, the beginning and the end, a single breath—in one hundredth of a second the shutter is released and a secret is revealed. Sometimes I think it’s almost selfish, the way the camera allows us to capture a moment like this, snatch it right out of thin air before it disappears forever in a stream of faded memory. And yet…this is why I fell in love with photography when I was just a teenager.

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birthday boy

Posted on August 23, 2011 by Lilli Day aka bookbabie

Today is my son’s birthday. He’s a dad now, with two little ones of his own, and yes, I watch my baby hold his babies and I wonder how we got from there to here so quickly. Of course, I was warned. By my mother and grandmother and aging aunties; I was told to gather the tender moments from the childhoods of my two children and hold them close because they would fly by. And I tried, I really did. But there was housework to do and bills to pay, a marriage to maintain and health problems to overcome, and before I knew it I was sitting in a hospital waiting room looking forward to holding my new granddaughter in my empty arms. The greatest joy of being a grandparent is that you get one more chance to honor the precious days of childhood as you watch your grandchildren grow up, and as an added bonus, you do it armed with a good night’s sleep and a little more wisdom. I think of my mother on days like today, dancing with Andy at his wedding 6 years ago, her head on the shoulder of her first grandchild and I know exactly what she was thinking…how did we get from there to here so quickly?

best of youtube

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Lilli Day aka bookbabie

Thinking about my mom a lot this week as I celebrate my fiftieth birthday today and approach the first anniversary of her passing at the end of the month. Love Josh Groban’s voice and this beautiful song has certainly taken on new meaning for me, enjoy!

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age. ~Lucille Ball

birthday blues

Posted on September 12, 2008 by Lilli Day aka bookbabie

This Sunday is my birthday and it’s going to be a rather bittersweet one. Our first grandchild was due last Sunday, on Grandparents Day, so I was hoping to be holding my first grandchild on my birthday this year. But during a routine ultrasound this past spring my daughter-in-law’s doctor discovered that the baby had Bilateral Multicystic Dysplastic Kidney Disease and because her tiny kidney’s were failing, she was unable to make enough amniotic fluid to sustain the pregnancy. Our son and daughter-in-law named the baby Kylie Nicole and we are walking in the PKD walk to help raise money for kidney disease on Septmeber 20th. Our granddaughter’s kidney disease was similar to Polycystic Kidney Disease which is one of the most common life threatening, genetic, diseases affecting an estimated 12.5 million people worldwide. In fact, PKD is more common than Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell anemia – combined. If you would like to learn more about PKD, or support Meagan and Andy, please click on this link or on the PKD Foundation logo at the top of this post.

… joy and sorrow are inseparable. . . together they come and when one sits alone with you . . . remember that the other is asleep upon your bed. ~Kahlil Gibran