Snapshot

When I moved to Long Island, I was 25 years old and had an infant son. One of the fun summer activities was going to the town pool. Thirty years later, I am still going. One of the first pictures I have of me living in this neighborhood was taken at that pool. It was a picture of me and my sister sitting under an awning. Our babies were sleeping in their carriages but they were not in the snapshot. Last night I had friends over for our bi monthly get together. One of the girls brought a picture of her son and his childhood friends. Each of them was holding their child. It was a testament to long lasting friendships. I looked at the picture and had a flashback. One of those children was in a picture in my photo album. How could that be? The boy in the picture was only two years old. I went into my den, dusted off an album from thirty years ago and flipped through it. There he was. The same boy. It was a picture of his father at 4 years old. Same face. Same haircut. I showed it to my friend and made a copy for her to take home. When I teach my coaching classes, I tell people that they need to broaden their look of the world. I use the analogy of re-framing a picture to see the panoramic view. You never know what is hiding in the background of life. In this case, a picture of me, hid a picture of my friend's son.