A Gift

An amazing thing has happened to me.

Most of my regular readers will remember The Great Camera Mishap, where my brand new (one week old), two thousand dollar camera went for a swim in a cooler full of water last May, rendering it completely and utterly ruined. I hadn't insured it yet, so it was a total loss.

I had used tax refund money to buy it - a pretty uncharacteristic move. I usually buy something fun with refund money, but most of it typically goes to catch up on bills or take care of necessities like contacts and dental work. Last year, though, I pretty much blew the entire thing on that camera, for one week of photographic bliss.

After that, I lost my Photography Mojo. I ended up selling the other camera I had and for several months now have been totally cameraless. It's sucked. I've felt like I've been missing an arm or a leg, and when I think of all the experiences that have not been captured....Ugh.

I had hoped to replace the camera I dunked with this year's tax refund, but life had other plans. There was just no room for the purchase of [another] $2K camera. But I couldn't bare the thought of being camera-less when the baby arrives, so last week Jason and I bought a cheap little point 'n shoot. Better than nothing, right? Of course. And I was content with that, waiting anxiously for it to arrive in the mail.

Yesterday I received an email. The email was from a friend that I've never actually met in person. She's a member of the online community I participate in for Single Working Mothers. I've been part of this group for 2 or 3 years now, and the women on there have become very good friends in spite of the fact that we've never met in person (some of them have!). They are from all over the country, and we even have a lovely Scot! Their stories vary widely, but we all have at least one thing in common, and that is that we are single moms, working our tooshes off to support our kids. We commiserate, support, encourage, and entertain each other - we have grown very close as we share the hardships and victories of our lives with each other.

The email from my friend had me in tears by the second paragraph:

We love you and we love your photography - we couldnt bare knowing that you wouldnt be able to take beautiful pictures of your baby. The SWMU ladies have come together - and we bought you a camera.

They bought me a camera. A very good camera. These ladies who struggle to make ends meet, and who have their own desires and needs to spend their money on, all contributed to buy ME a camera. I sat at my desk at work and bawled, completely overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity of these online friends of mine.

So very soon, I will have camera in hand again, and I am beside myself with excitement. I'm already thinking about posing Baby Girl for her first portrait session, and relieved to be able to capture my newly formed family in our early days of blending. Perhaps I will even be able to revive my portrait photography business...the thought makes me giddy.

Part of me is embarrassed that an object can mean so much to me. But really, it's not the object - it's the preservation of memories and the capturing of moments that I consider so invaluable. It's also an expression of how I feel about people - using the camera to make everyday moments beautiful. And now, every time I use that camera I will be reminded of those mamas who mean so much to me, who were so extravagant in showing me how much I mean to them. Each click of the shutter will humble me and motivate me to pay it forward in any way I can. To be the recipient of such generosity is inspiring.