Six Generation Family Photos || A Tribute To Myrtle Teaster
Tucked away in a little white house in the mountains of East Tennessee lived a lady named Myrtle Teaster. Myrtle, the oldest resident in Wears Valley was raised in the Elkmont Community of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and called Tennessee home all of her life.
I had the privilege of meeting her a few times to document her family celebrating six generations. Yes, six generations! Granny, as everyone called her was a great great great grandmother. How amazing is that? What an honor it was to meet granny and celebrate life with her.
I loved going to her house. I don’t know what it was about going to her house that made me feel at peace, but I enjoyed it so much. Maybe it was the mountains of Wears Valley, the white tiny house with a silver tin roof that looked like it had been frozen in time or the wooden front porch swing that reminded me of my own grandmothers house. Maybe it was her kind eyes, her sweet gentle smile or her spunk that reminded me of my own grandmother, but whatever it was I loved it. There was something about going to her house that took me back to my childhood and a time in life where things were just simple. When I was there so many things reminded me of my own grandmother and sometimes I think God lets us experience little things like that to remind us of loving people that He has blessed us with.
Today photos mean more to Granny’s family than ever before so I beg you take more photos of the people you love. Don’t forget to document the big things, but the small things are just as important so document those too. Hire a professional photographer, take photos with your own camera, heck use your cell phone, but document life with people you love. When you are blessed in life with people that love you, remind them that they are appreciated because one day all you’ll have are memories and photographs.
Granny, (a sweet lady with a little bit of spunk) passed away this week at the age of 100. I know she will be missed greatly, but in her final days she assured her family that she was ready to go to Heaven to be with her family that is already there. I’ll miss getting to go to her house to shoot family photos, but I’m so thankful her family loved her enough to document her life in photographs. What an honor to be able to meet her and even more of an honor to give the gift of photographs to her family.
