I’m zoomed in at 1000%, painstakingly trying to restore this image of my Grandmother, pixel by pixel. She must be all of 16 or 17 years old here, and her eyes are ablaze, so full of life!
She was already married, having taken my Grandad’s last name, so in this shot, she was officially Barbara Fox. My wife’s Grandmother called her “Our Foxy Lady”, even when they met in their 70’s, and it’s easy to see why. She’s an absolute stunner to this day!
In this shot, she’s sitting in a 1938 Studebaker Commander (thank you to my friend Dave for your expertise in helping me identify the year, make, and model). My Grandad was teaching her how to drive. What makes this photo my all-time favorite though, to me, is his shadow. It’s his presence and the way he’s looking down, cradling this old-time camera which was state-of-the-art back then, capturing a photo of his new bride, completely smitten by her. Something about him snapping a picture resonates deeply with me, as it has become my own life-long pursuit, to capture God’s beauty all around us in pictures. He died when I was just a little boy, but somehow through God's grace, this image connects me to him.
Last week I watched her in the hospital, thinking she was doing so great, and we even sang some worship songs together and even cut up with laughter as we reminisced. It seemed surreal, right up to the moment they tried to help her stand, and that’s when I realized there was this entire layer of medical aid going on behind the scenes, invisible to my untrained eye. I realized she was in pain, and I know in hospice right now with my Mom and her brothers and sisters, she is having pain.
I’m working on this photo, trying to restore her image as close as I can to her original beauty, imagining what my Grandad saw that day in living color. Life was vibrant and so fresh with the world as their oyster. I see her then, and I think just how amazing it will yet be when that promise has come true and she stands before the Lord. She will be remade in a brand new image, unfaded with not even a scratch, in no pain, with no hurt, and no tears. I can’t wait to see it! I hope to God He still lets me take pictures up there because down here I can think of no better way to pay tribute to His creation.
(Photo circa 1946-47, by Cullen Fox, My Granddad. Good job Grandpa. It's a classic! :) )
"But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like His glorious body." -Philippians 3:20-21