For his eighth birthday, I gifted Oak a small yellow, point and shoot Kodak film camera. With a month-long stay in Europe on the horizon, the film camera he received provided an ongoing activity through travel and new spaces. But more than that, it provided an opportunity for the joy to continue once back in New York City. We added local printing places to our to-visit maps, pointing to them whenever he’d fly through a roll. During our trip he protected the film like it was his baby. Unfortunately, some went through the security x-ray machine, resulting in real actual tears. But there are so many bright spots in the grainy rolls, like this one he snapped of me the morning after I turned 33 in our Paris apartment. And all the ones from the times he asked, “Mama, can you take a photo of me Just Like This?!” He’d get in position, and I’d take the photo as directed. “Oh, I think that’s going to look so cool!” He’d respond. Some words on Paris through my son’s eyes on that old blog. And previous words a while back via an essay on my substack on this trip in which I “let go.” Thank you @skyeparrott and Jeremy for the sleepovers and joy 🤎