“The best thing about memories is making them.” – Unknown

There is something so special about a grandparent/grandchild relationship. When we are parents, we are juggling work and daily responsibilities but quite often, grandparents have the luxury of a little more time to devote to their grandkids. When they are together, they can focus on just being together and enjoying the simple pleasures like a big bowl of ice cream together or feeding the ducks.

This session was precious. I watched how Susan tried to convince her grandson to speak to me but as a 3 year old, that can be a little scary sometimes. He clung to her legs and for a split second, I wondered if we would be able to get the moment captured. In all my years as a South Atlanta photographer, I have yet to have that happen but there is always a first. I told Susan to forget we were taking photos and just play. “Ignore me,” I told her “and just play”.

He started to shine as they picked flowers, “How about this pink one here?”. The sunflowers towered above him AND Grandma, which he thought was funny! I was able to break the ice with him bit by bit as I pointed out another butterfly or yellow finch flying nearby. “Come try to catch this tiny one!” I said. We simply played and I captured it.

Watching the tow of them brought me to a place in time years ago with my mom and my kids. My beautiful mom loved flowers and was a fabulous gardener. Her garden was well known in Peachtree City, GA as her house was on the lake next to a path where everyone passed. People always told me that they loved my mom’s garden, which had flowers of all colors. When I first opened my photography business, 25 years ago, my mom let me photograph clients in her garden. I have such sweet memories of those first clients picking flowers and smelling them, walking down the little paths and my mom coming out to shake the crepe myrtle trees to show the kids how it was snowing petals.

For years, my mom tried to teach me about gardening, how to divide flowers to add them to other parts of the yard or in my yard and how to care for them. “There is no use, Mom. I have a black thumb!” I would sadly say. She would go through the motions and show me anyway but inevitably, the flowers she helped my plant in my yard never did as well as hers. When I was at her house, she always let me go picking in her garden and sent me home with a cup full of flowers I would treasure.

My kids absolutely loved to go to Grammy’s house to pick flowers, feed the birds, go fishing the lake, have an since cream sundae…the simple moments that kids crave, the moments without being hurried. As parents, we run from here to there and honestly, we usually don’t have time to pause for these simple moments. As I watched the interaction between these two, I so fondly remembered my mom and the special bond she had with my kids. It was such a joy to see.

Now, here I was in my very own flower field taking photos of the very thing that brought me such joy as a young mom, watching my kids light up with their Grammy. Susan and her little buddy were having a blast together on the farm. I brought them carrots to feed the horses but at first, that can be a little intimidating from a 3-year-old’s point of view. Slowly, he found his courage and giggles erupted when the horse made funny noises.

Like most little boys, he loved tractors so I let him sit up on our tractor with Grandma as he wanted her with him until he got brave enough to “drive to the moon” all by himself!

When Grandma said she wanted to get her hat, he stayed with me to pick more flowers. He looked up at me with those beautiful big brown eyes and long lashes, and said, “I am not shy anymore!”.

“No, you are very brave and very strong! You fed the horses and drove to the moon ALL BY YOURSELF!”.

I wish I had done a session like this to celebrate the relationship between my sweet mom and my kids but she passed away as young Grammy and my kids have grown. Let’s plan a Fun Day on the Farm with your kids with their grandparents whether it is picking flowers with Grandma or walking down the dirt road with fishing poles to head to the pond together. Imagine curling up on the sofa with an album to relive these memories over and over, now as a little one but also 30 years from now when they are parents.