Aleida's challenge | a challenge to you

I never knew Aleida Franklin but she left a legacy of love for her kids that I think any mom would be envious of.  I stumbled upon Aleida's story from a friend's blog and then another blog and another... you know how this blog world is connected! 

 

Aleida made it a goal for herself to take a picture of herself with her children at least once a month.  She said using excuses about how we look, as women, is ridiculous since our children will never care what we looked like, but only that we have physical evidence of the bond between mother and child.   

"Have you ever seen a photograph of your own mother and thought to yourself how fat she looked? Or how she wasn't wearing make-up? Or wasn't dressed in a glamorous outfit?"

 

Seriously.  Food for thought, huh?

 

On September 5th, 2008 Aleida blogged a photo of herself, smiling, that read "Live today like there is no tomorrow." Just a week later, on September 12th, Aleida was struck by another car on her way to work and passed away, leaving two small children and a grieving husband. She was 41 years old.  How precious the photos of her and her kiddos! 

Instead of always being behind the camera, I'm going to put the camera in front of me and my kids!  I am now trying to take photos of myself with my children....double chins, bed-head, messy house in the background and all.  My kids will never doubt how much their mama loves them and I hope they have hundreds of photos of us together to remind them. 

 

I invite Mothers (and Fathers) everywhere to take Aleida's Challenge.