Do you ever just wonder why things happen the way that they do? Seriously… think about it… one interaction, one move… just think what might have been the result if one simple thing in your life might have happened differently?l Maybe you don’t get lost in your thoughts as much as I do, but for me, I wonder about everything (it’s just how my brain usually works at 2:00am when I can’t sleep).

So many people feel it’s important to have all the answers, but for me, I think it’s just as important to have many questions. Why things happen?, what might have been?, how can we get better next time?, etc. But the thing that I thinking about the most recently, how did I get so lucky?

Today was one of the of those beautiful days you hope for when spring arrives… not too hot, not too cold… just right. So, I decided to take a break from the “real world,” even if only for a little while. I unplugged. I put the phone away, no laptop, no desktop, no emails and just sat down and watched my sons play with each other. I didn’t step in, I didn’t facilitate… I just was a fly on the wall. How did I get so lucky?

I watched as two little children ran around on the pavement, threw rocks into the woods and listened as they laughed as they called each other’s names. It was about as perfect as it could get. Two children’s laughs. Two brothers who absolutely adore each other playing and enjoying life without a worry in the world. How did I get so lucky?

I watched them run with reckless abandon, the way only toddlers can do, innocent and not knowing what worry is. They fell, the cried and then they got right back up again. Hearing the sound of children enjoying life (the way it should be) was exactly what I needed. It’s a fountain of youth. I guess having kids both ages you and makes you feel younger at the same time. Seriously, how did I get so lucky!???

It doesn’t take long for the real world to set back in… deadlines and meetings and bills… but even with that looming overhead all I kept thinking was… how did I get so lucky?

There have been countless images that have have captivated the world, but the chances of capturing an iconic photograph are few and far between.

A few of my favorites include:

Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston by: Neil Leife 1965 

Flag Raising on Iwo Jima by: Joe Rosenthal 1945

The Loch Ness Monster by: Unknown

The above pictures invoke emotion. The photographers had a keen eye and a sense of importance. They had a feeling that told them what to take a photo of, how to position the camera and exactly when to shoot… and they needed a little luck.

How do I know this? Because last night I became that photographer. I was in the right place at the right time. I had the awareness and the steady hand to capture one of the most iconic photos in our family’s history. Here we see this rare creature in its natural nighttime habitat. Oliver (Oliverius Maximus- Latin). This creature does not sleep through the night and he is mostly nocturnal. Observing him sleeping let alone getting a photo without him waking up and screaming the rest of the night is extremely rare indeed.

It takes talent to be able to what I did last night. It took ninja skills to be able to sneak into Oliver’s room without disturbing him, but I did it. And in the process I ensured that this photo will go down in the annals of historically famous photos.

Here we see this rare creature in its natural nighttime habitat. Oliver (Oliverius Maximus- Latin). This creature does not sleep through the night and he is mostly nocturnal. Observing him sleeping let alone getting a photo without him waking up and screaming the rest of the night is extremely rare indeed.

It takes talent to be able to what I did last night. It took ninja skills to be able to sneak into Oliver’s room without disturbing him, but I did it. And in the process I ensured that this photo will go down in the annals of historically famous photos.