Blessed Through Incomplete Photos: The 'Cousin Pictures'

A favorite tradition in my family is that when we gather together, we take a 'cousin picture'.  My sister and I started snapping photos 42 years ago when her daughter was four years old and my son was born.  As my siblings and I added to our families, we continued to press the shutters until our children scattered across cities and - eventually - states.  It's rare to have the original generation of cousins in one place these days, but my own three kids have carried the tradition on with their kiddos, my grandchildren.

Over the past few years, I've noticed that whenever a cousin picture is taken, there tends to be a space, a gap, room enough for another child to be positioned in the photo: a spot reserved for Kitty.  It continues to be an amazing occurrence.

When I first noticed Kitty's open spot in the pictures, I was rather taken back.  I interpreted the curiosity as a sign or message telling me, 'Look at this ... this is where Kitty would be if she was still alive.  This is where she would fit in.'  Snapshots from the past several holidays and birthday parties have continued to leave me staring at the days' memories thinking, 'Wow, there's where she'd be placed in this one.'  Except, she isn't.  

Realistically, I understand that Kitty is exactly where she is meant to be, where God intended her to exist: in our hearts, on our minds, with Jesus, watching over us.  In past posts, I've noted how Kitty's death brought healing to our family, how it saved her dad from his own destructive lifestyle.  For almost nine years, I've clung to the belief that in Kitty's short life, God's plan for her was fulfilled.

Moments ago, as I was looking at one of the cousin pictures and preparing to write this, I recalled a recent message published in my church bulletin.  Our deacon wrote: "It is so important for us to take time to drink in all that God gives us.  Each day the  Lord sends blessings into our lives.  Some are evident, like winning the lottery!  Others are more subtle, like a cool breeze in the evening or finding an extra cookie in the cookie jar." ... "There  are  so  many  ways that God is communicating  his love to us in our day to day lives.  There are  little moments—little  miracles—that we witness each day, if we open our eyes to see them."

Our family tradition has become one these blessings, a little miracle that I gaze upon daily in the pictures that hang on my walls.  Whenever I go upstairs and through the hallway, I am blessed by the memory of my grandchild and the reminder of how she healed our family.  Praise the Lord for all of those cousin pictures that appear to be incomplete!!  

Along the stairway there are also nine black and white 8x10 photos in silver frames, one for each of my grandchildren, taken at the age of two-weeks.  The portraits are hung in birth order with the first-born at the bottom of the stairs, winding to the top and descending back down to the youngest.  As I make my way up- or downstairs, I am reminded that Kitty is truly the heart, the center, of our family.  Her image is hung directly in the center of all of the cousins, with two wooden hearts above her photo.  Those hearts were cut by her dad and painted by Kitty's little sister, the Dasher. 

So appropriate, so perfect, so very blessed.

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