My photo book. 

Blurry images printed onto glossy photos and pasted into the thin pages of a book. 

This book may seem ordinary to the naked eye, seeming to be only an old collection of family photos stored in an old book case. But to my trained eye, this collection of images show so much more than old memories. These photos tell the unique story of my family. 

The story of my family starts with my mom. A beautiful, hard working teenager naturally gifted at anything she put her mind to. Her gleaming smile still illuminates pages that have worn years ago. As you flip through the pages, a new character enters the story. A little pink baby. The story now surrounds my mom beaming with pride with her first daughter. At only 18 years old, my mom’s own story shifted from herself to her child’s. This child is my older sister Lexi. As you flip further in the story the images show my sister riding a bike, blowing out candles on her first birthdays, and attending school. Then a new character entered the pages–me. The photos show smiling faces making unforgettable memories. My mom either taking or in the pictures always kept her illuminating smile. Although, behind the happy photos I know the true struggle my mom went through to give my sister and me the best childhood we could have asked for. There are no photos of my mom getting her GED online or working night shift as a CNA in order to take my sister and me to and from school. The happy memories I had as a kid were all thanks to her hard work. Her selflessness as a mother inspires me. Looking through the pages of my old family album always reminds me of how thankful I am to have such an amazing mother that worked tirelessly to put a smile on her daughters faces day in and day out. The same smile she had in the previous pages of the book. 

That is why this photo book is an object I can not live without. It represents so much more than what is printed onto its worn pages. Each individual picture has a beautiful story behind it that could not have been possible without my mother. As a whole, it tells the amazing story of what and who has brought me to be the person I am today. The album is a reminder of the reason everything I have accomplished is possible and the strength and selflessness I will mirror from my mother for the rest of my life.