I wish...

I wish

I could show you all the hearts that touched mine on saturday

but I can't

~~

I wish

you could hear all the laughter I heard on saturday

but I can't

~~

I wish

you could see all the beautiful families I saw on saturday

but I can't

do that either

~~

so

now I hope

~~

I hope

that next year in your town

you can be involved with

help-portrait

in order to see and hear and feel all the love that surrounded us

~~

us

a bunch of strangers who gathered together to make the lives of some families

a little brighter this winter

~~

us

a bunch of strangers

who laughed and played and worked together

like we had known each other for years

~~

us

who quickly figured out

that when one of our spanish interpreters wasn't immediately

available

that a smile and a hug were always understood

~~

us

who all ended the day saying

"well, when we do this again next year"

and

"let's do something like this before next winter"

~~

us

who sit here today

still amazed by the hearts that thanked us over and over again

as

we thanked them for sharing their families with us

~~~~~

help-portrait has a privacy act for all the families photographed and we are not to use them for our own use

the day was all about them

not us

and

that's exactly the way it needs to be

~~

below is our team

at the end of our 10 hour day

~even 12 hours for some of them~

minus a few volunteers

and

when you've only had

pizza and donuts

to eat

and

coffee and mountain dew to drink

you go a little crazy

when it's your turn in front of the camera

*