Worth A Thousand Words

We’ve all heard the saying,

“A picture is worth a thousand words.”

Right?

An image can express much more in a few seconds than we can read in many minutes.

I’ve been a photo-taking fool over the last two months.

You see, my son is in the midst of a full show choir season. If you haven’t had the privilege of experiencing show choir recently, let me tell you, it’s incredible.

(I realize this post may not mean much to anyone else but to me, our son, and my family, but the whole reason I began blogging in 2007 was to capture memories for them such as this.)

Show choir back in my day was called “swing choir,” and it was nothing like what I’m watching at these competitions. I am continually impressed with the talent, the songs, the dancing, the music, and the student performers.

But friends, I’m partial. My son and his show choir family have outdone themselves this year. Performing their own version of Peter Pan, with full costumes, props, a larger than life staging set, and music to boot, they are on their way to stardom. I wish you could hear them. I wish you could take in their show. I believe it would leave you speechless. (We have two more local performances coming up if you’re interested and live local to me.)

My son plays the part of Peter Pan, and watching him soar on stage makes my heart want to leap out of my chest. Seriously.

Saturdays’s competition was again, top-notch. Numerous schools competing for the title of Grand Champion. Our show choir again performed their heart out and in my words, “knocked it out of the ballpark.”

And guess what? They were the honored ones to carry home the Grand Champion trophy at the end of the night!

After the 395 photos I snapped of Saturday’s two performances, and of the celebration of winning that happened on stage, I sat back for a moment to soak it all in.

What an honor it was to experience this. What a gift it was to watch these kids who have worked so hard since August to be rewarded like they were. To see their smiles and hear their laughter. To watch parents give each other high fives and fist bumps. And other moms snapping a million-or-so photos.

What a blessing it was that all four of us–my husband, our daughter, our son, and I–were there together.

And then there was this. The icing on the cake.

My son was making his way towards me through the crowd. That alone brought a smile to my face. As he got closer, his smile matched his wide outstretched arms.

His hug might have been the biggest I had ever received. Ever. I couldn’t spit out fast enough, “I’m so proud of you!”

Little did I know my daughter captured that moment on her phone…

A picture is most definitely worth a thousand words.

And no caption needed. It brings tears to my eyes and makes me smile each time I see it.

Thank you for sharing in my joy today, and in a few of the 395 photos I captured!

From one incredibly proud momma,

Julie