Flashback to New Year’s Day 2018. I decided that this would be the year that I would really truly document our family. I knew that the kids were growing and changing before our eyes. Oftentimes, after the kids went to bed John and I would sit up, watch bad tv, and talk about how much we would miss these days when the kids were grown. He loved the sound of pitter patter when one of the kids would sneak out of bed and try to ‘spy’ on us, well after they should have been sleeping. Greta was to be our last baby (at least that was the plan) and I was fully aware that it was my last time going through all of the baby stages.
It was my last time going through all of the baby stages.
I have always taken lots of pictures, not necessarily good pictures but lots. More quantity over quality. Not that I didn’t want them to be good, but I was better at catching the moments when no one realized they were being recorded than getting everyone to smile and look at the camera. It was to the point that when my people realized they were on film they just shook their head and continued on their business. Thank goodness no one really threw a fit at my shenanigans.
John was always pushing me to take more videos. He thought it would be a great idea to interview them on their birthdays and other important days. But videos and I never really worked out, I intended to take them but most times just forgot. I got the picture but not the video.
My resolution would be to take the video.
So, New Years 2018 my resolution would be to take the video. But I felt that I would have to make a point to do it, because if not weeks would go by and I would have forgotten about it once again. So I searched and found the app, One Second Everyday. I purchased the full version for a few dollars and was off. Soon it became a habit. Every single day I would take a short video, usually only a few seconds. I could load it into the app, pick the ‘best’ second and it would be done. We seriously LOVED watching these! The kids were growing and changing before our eyes, especially Greta.
So I did it. From January 1, 2018 to June 15, 2018, I took a video every single day. John was killed on June 16, 2018 and I haven’t been able to do this since. I hope to continue someday but right now it seems too intertwined.
Somedays it was so hard to pick, others I barely captured a few seconds.
When I took the videos, I just did it with the photo app and did short snippets all throughout the day and then before bed I would pick my favorite second that I captured. Somedays it was so hard to pick, others I barely captured a few seconds. The interesting thing about these videos, is that there isn’t one that I wish was shorter. Not a one. I always want to see more, I wish I would have kept filming for just a few more seconds. Gotten that extra glimpse of what our lives used to be like.
This movie is easily one of my favorites, but also one of the most heartbreaking.
January 1, 2018-June 15, 2019
This movie is easily one of my favorites but also one of the most heartbreaking. It’s completely jaw dropping to think about how much life has changed. Especially since neither John or I made the decision to completely have our lives torn apart. I strongly encourage you to start taking more videos, more pictures. Document that crazy that is your life, one day you will look back at just how precious these moments were. Much love.
In the Blink of a Fly is led by Leah Fullenkamp. Leah is the mother of four young children. Their lives were tragically altered after a crash caused by distracted driving killed her husband and her children’s father. This website is the tale of them learning to live again and serves as a passion project to help prevent distracted driving and this tragedy from happening to someone else.
