The Legacy of a Life

Last Friday night I battled to sleep… I tossed and turned and lay awake for hours, only dozing off for a short period until eventually in the wee hours of Saturday morning I rolled over, wide awake. I checked my phone for the time (it was 6.40am – I am never up this early on a Saturday if I’m not shooting a wedding!!!) and to my shock I discovered 2 missed calls and 3 text messages. One was from my cousin asking me to call him as soon as possible. Groggy, I dialled and when he answered he asked if I had spoken to anyone in the family. When I replied that I hadn’t, he said, ‘Max, it’s Gran… she’s gone.’

It was at that moment that I felt an ache deep down in that quiet, secret space, somewhere down underneath my lungs… In that place that you hide your biggest dreams and secrets. I cannot begin to describe the sense of loss…

After taking the week off from blogging, I want to share with you the story of my Granny and what she’s taught me about life and the importance of enjoying it… because she wouldn’t want me to be sad. She would want me to celebrate her life and the life I have to live.

My Gran married my Grandpa the day after she turned 18. Together they had six children. They became proud grandparents to fourteen grandchildren – sadly my Grandpa only got to meet four of us before he passed away – and she became Great-Granny to one gorgeous little great-grandson (and soon-to-be great-granddaughter).

She taught me about loving unconditionally and forgiving even when you hadn’t been asked for the forgiveness, because it sets your soul free. She taught me about having faith. About having a belief in yourself and in God, no matter what the obstacle was or how big it seemed. She taught me to be fearless. To stand by my principles and to never give up on the things I wanted most because you would not be born with those desires if you were not supposed to attain them.

I shoot weddings and lifestyle shoots for a living but it has not been until this week that I have realised how precious old photographs really are, or the gravity of the decision we make when we promise to spend the rest of our lives with the person we love. Because of my Grandparents love, there have been twenty two people on this planet. Because of their love, I am here.

So today, and every day, I will celebrate her life…. because she’s not really gone. I can hear her in the rising inflections of my mothers voice when she answers the phone. I can see her in the excitement on my little brother’s face when he gets a surprise. She hides in the wrinkles at the corners of my eyes when I smile, and in the act of making a cup of tea when it feels like the world is about to fall apart because, ‘Maxeen, tea fixes everything!’

This is the legacy of a life. We are sent here to live, to try things, to be happy, to love, to have children and to leave this world a better place than we found it. We all have so much potential to create and build the dreams and desires of our hearts. We are all the best pieces of those who have gone before us… because that is the legacy of a life. And we should be proud to live it!

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