Some people see photography as nothing more than photos, others see photography as lifetime memories. My late father, Thomas E. Shannon Sr. taught me that memories do not always last forever, and sometimes pictures are all we have to remind us of the beauty our life has given to us. When I was younger, pictures were just pictures, and I was always asking him, "Dad, why do you take so many pictures?" He said, "No two moments are ever the same," I wasn't exactly sure what that meant at the time, but as I got older and watched my babies turn into young ladies and young men, and as I sat and held my mother and fathers hands as they took their last breath and the elderly with Alzheimer's, I began to understand what he meant. We live day by day as though we have tomorrow, but in reality, we are not promised tomorrow, we are not promised to always remember the moments, and we are not promised that our babies will remember all we did out of love for them and with them. Being able to remember, share and smile about the past,
is what photography means.
