headtones: Jetlagged Reflections

It’s funny how people change. Because change rarely occurs overnight, it’s tough to know when it actually happened. But happen it does, and this morning at 5:30 a.m., I finally noticed it.

Nope, that’s not a typo. It was actually 4:12 this morning when I first opened my eyes, knowing it was too early to be wide awake. I tossed and turned for half an hour before resigning myself to the fact that it was going to be a very early start to Monday. Yay jetlag!

After fixing myself a nice American breakfast of oatmeal, grapefruit, and a latte, turning on the Christmas tree lights, and lighting our new Christmas holiday candle, I sat down to sort through our photos from India. Thirty minutes and fifty deleted photos later, Jason and Sydney are also up. Sydney couldn’t be happier that we’re up; she brings me her smelly, mangled bunny, looking at me with those big brown eyes that say “throw it!”

Jason is less excited about being awake. He comes over to the chaise lounge and stands over my shoulder to see what I’m doing. Seeing our photos, he says things like “that’s the best one,” “use that one,” and “why’d you delete that one?” And for the third time, in less than forty-eight hours after our return to the States, came the question, “Have you posted the pictures on Facebook yet?”

Which brings me back to my original statement: “It’s funny how people change.” I vividly remember going out West with Jason when we were in juniors in college. We’d planned a trip to visit the National Parks in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Utah. I’d just finished taking one of my first photography classes, so I was all about capturing every moment on film. By day three, Jason had had enough and kindly told me that I should just take pictures in my mind. Now here we are, six years later with at least a dozen travel adventures under our belts, and he is excited to see all of our photos!

Though I know he can still grow tired of me falling behind to capture some memory, I am thankful that he now appreciates how photos help us keep the pictures in our minds fresh and crisp for years to come.