Looking forward, Looking back

Right now I have a living room full of teenage boys playing some video game with great enthusiasm.  My son is now almost 15 years old, and yet,  it seems that only a few months ago he looked liked this and smiled like this.  I'm lucky.  I have photos from every stage of his life.  Photos taken in the stream of living and not just at "special occasions".  What was this special ocassion?  Nothing more than a mid-week lunch together in the Summer.  We'd gone to Hilbert's for some old fashion, Texas burgers.  Grilled.  Mustard, lettuce, tomato and onions.  And fries.  We sat on the stools that spin around.  The yellow light came through a yellow shade on the window and I haven't corrected it because that would change what it really was.

Ben's mom is in the background.  It's hot outside but our car is parked in the shade with the windows open.  We went home after this and Ben and I sat on the floor of the living room with the ceiling fans twirling overhead and the air conditioning pumping out cool, clean tasting air.

I remember exactly how I shot this.  Almost as if the exif info was embedded in my brain:  Leica R8 camera.  50mm Summilux as close to wide open as I could get it.  And I can see the film in my scanner:  Kodachrome 64.  The camera doesn't matter.  Only the presence of mind to shoot while the expression presented itself.

Isn't this one of the rewards of photography?  To be able to look backward as the whole world moves forward?