My Last Shot Tradition
I'm late in posting this - at least on my blog. I chose to re-do my blog design and so I didn't post this when I should have. Every year since 2010 I have been taking a photo that becomes my last shot of the year. It's become my last shot tradition. Every year I have a plan for a photo and every year something happens and the shot ends up being something completely different. I never blogged about my last shot of 2013 so I'll start with that one.
This is Bella (a.k.a. The Fuzz). For fourteen years we were together. She was with me through many of the toughest times of my life. She was the sweetest and most gentle dog, with a soft and delicate presence. When I took this photo the liver cancer was already doing terrible things to her and by January 10, 2014 I had to do what was best for her and help her cross over the rainbow bridge. It was one of the most painful moments of my life and my heart was crushed. Needless to say blogging wasn't really top of mind.
The last day of 2014 I went to the same beach boardwalk with the intention of taking a photo of Mr. Bear, the dog that healed my heart after I lost The Fuzz. But that didn't happen. Instead I found these flowers and was reminded of a poem by Robert Frost that had surfaced in my memory days before.
Nature’s first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf’s a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay.
2014 was a year of learning and a year filled with many 'firsts'. It was also a year of awareness and understanding and lots of personal growth. I ended the year looking forward to 2015 and determined to make it a better year.
This was the photo that started it all, shot on December 31, 2010, just ten days after my mom had died. I was still in shock at the time and went out to take photos just to be out more than anything. But I took The Fuzz with me because I didn't want to leaver her at home by herself. As you can see from her intense stare, she loved treats. The photo of her was a good way to end the year and it began my tradition of the last shot of the year.
And in case you'd like to see the photos and read the stories, here are the last shots of 2011 and 2012. This tradition is something I will continue because it provides a way to close the chapter on one year and look forward into the next one. As I look at the images and read the blog posts that went with them, I am reminded of my strength and how much I have overcome which motivates me and gives me the courage to move forward.