An open letter to my better half
Brandon… Through daily life it’s hard to express my thankfulness for everything you do for me, for others, and for our business. The big things, but more importantly, the small things.
It’s not just that you are the mastermind behind our photo storage and backup system. Or the fact that you’re the Oz behind the curtain of our business. It’s not just that you hand-edit every single wedding and engagement photo that we take and make it perfect with your coloring and sharpness, toning and crops. Not only the gorgeous albums that you spend hours designing, proofing and ordering. And ordering prints for me because I’m afraid I’ll mess something up.
It’s more than the fact that you always charge every battery the night before the wedding and clean cat hair off our bags when the kitty has staked that as her perfect spot to lounge. It isn’t just that you reassure me that even though we are behind schedule on a wedding day timeline that it will still all get done, and you get a head start on the groomsmen while I continue to take shots of mascara and lip gloss going on to make sure nothing falls through the cracks.
All the big things you do, like make sure you never miss the shots you know I can’t get, or capturing the groomsmen and the kiddos just the way I like. Like being in the right place at the right time, even when the right place is in front of me getting a better shot of what I thought I was getting. The way you’re always prepared, like the boyscout that you are, for wind, rain, too much sun or not enough sun…heck, you’re even prepared for snake-bites. With extra batteries, fans for hot days, towels to wipe away sweat, and even letting me have your Gatorade so I don’t pass out. It’s that if I want a certain shot, you’re there to make it happen, even if it means forfeiting something you had in mind.
But it’s also those small things…the way you shine our shoes before a wedding, or fix a button on my dress. The way you care for little details like the color of the ribbon on the bags of jellybeans we give our clients. They way that stray hairs annoy you and you take hours to edit them out. The fact that you care so much, not only about me, but about our clients and our friends.
Mother Teresa says that it’s not as important to do great things, but to do small things with great love. That’s you my darling. Every day, you’re doing something for someone else. Every day, you make sure I’m taken care of. Every day, you show love…even if it’s the most mundane of tasks. There you are, doing it…because of love.
I’m thankful to be flying on this journey with you. As we soar, I see you there, ahead of me, flapping hard and making a way for me so I can soar in your draft. You make it look effortless, but I know that it’s not without a price. And your sacrifice and your hard work is hardly ever seen, but always noticed. You are a living example of what a godly husband and leader is. As husbands are to love their wives like Christ loves the church, you do this for me – even when I don’t notice or am too grumpy to acknowledge it. We are who we are, as a team, because of you, and I can’t imagine life without you.
For all of these things, and so much more, I’m thankful. And I want people to know just how great you are. Thank you…for being you. – Lindsay
