Long story short: Get photos taken of your life.

Your baby is only this small once; you only exist as you are right now. With each new day comes some change.

One of my favorite authors, Dave Eggers, once wrote, “We lose days like buttons, like pencils.” Photographs can capture our days but they can also be more than just visual prompts for memory. A photograph can preserve the way your three-year-old daughter crinkles up her nose when she giggles and that static image can also prompt your mind to recall the exact sound of her laugh. Photos have the innate ability to stir within us emotions.

Look at a photograph of your life and I bet you can recall the sounds of that moment, the smells, maybe even the temperature of that day. I have this one picture of my mother sitting in a kiddie pool with my brother long before I was even thought of. I wasn’t there but I can imagine the moment in which that photograph was taken. I feel something when I look at it and it reminds me of all of the things I love about my mother.