Last Of The School Pictures

Since kindergarten, there is one day each school year that the kids get to show their individualism and parents pay for it...whether they like it or not. Picture day. Now, I'll give you that there are those rare kids who never take a bad picture. I didn't have those kids. And until the kids are old enough, or secure enough, to realize that their picture just flat out sucked, we ooohhhh and awwwww every year when they bring home the picture package and write out a check to show our kids how adorable we think they are. Doesn't matter if one eye was partially shut, or if they were caught in the middle of a smile and it came out looking like they were snarling at the photographer. We buy them and display them until we take our own better picture and can replace that years school picture with out hurting our child's feelings.

Yesterday, all of that changed for me. Yesterday was Casey's senior picture day. The last time he'll ever have his school pictures taken. If you've not had a kid graduate high school yet, let me warn you, plan the day around it. We were there for 3 hours and 20 minutes, and we got out much quicker than most. Seriously.
Now, my friend, Katy, went through this this past year with her son, Andrew. She sent me three pictures of three of the poses (in different outfits) they'd purchased as part of his senior picture package. I've known this snot nosed kid since grade school, and can not believe what a wonderful, yet still snot nosed, young man he's grown into. She went through her experience with me and gave me some insight as to the cost of this momentous occasion, the last of her son's school pictures.
Apparently, they do it differently in Ohio (that God forsaken state that Katy's husband moved her away from me to), as she told me they would show her pictures on the screen at the studio and let her choose, there, her favorites. Not so here.
There were kids who showed up, mostly with a parent in tow, with up to a dozen different outfits, and after a few pictures were taken in one, they'd change and have more taken, change again...and so on. Kids who were in sports would have their game clothes on, kids in band came with their instruments...so on and so on.
Casey wore street clothes in and took his best suit. This was his first tailor made suit, and we bought it for a special occasion, that holds great memories for both him and us. He's worn it a few times, and it does look great on him. Anyway, I digress. We get the football team and individual photo's each year, so we didn't choose to have him change into his football uniform. Besides, he won't have his football uniform with his number (which has been #54 for the past 5 years) on it till football season, and to have his picture taken with his workout pads didn't mean much to us. So, we went with the suit. The studio has tux's and 'shawls' provided that the school requires for the yearbook, so that all guys and gals are wearing the same thing in the senior year book photos. They take pictures in several settings, with different lights, backgrounds, etc, etc.... In all, geeze, at least a 100 pictures.

Casey has been growing out a goatee for the summer, and it looked GOOD. But they told us that the school requires that all guys be clean shaven for the year book photo. So, while he changed into his suit, I went out to buy a razor and shaving cream. We told them we wanted all his pictures taken with his facial hair and then he'd shave for his year book photo as his last picture and they agreed. Many of the young men and parents heard us, so they requested the same. A lot of senior boys are going through this 'rite of passage' into manhood over summer break, it would appear.
One thing that bothered me, to no end, was when the kids would smile and the photographer would tell them to close their mouths and smile...no teeth. Why?? I'd talk to the parents, and they didn't like it, but they were keeping quiet. One girl, who didn't come with a parent, but by herself, had on pink braces (like Charlie) and she was so adorable. She'd laugh and have the best smile, yet each time the photographer would tell her to close her mouth and smile.
Katy had told me that her pictures had cost them upward over a thousand bucks. For that sort of money, I don't want pictures that look like a stranger I've never known. When it was Casey's turn, and he smiled that great big ole' grin, and the photographer told him to close his mouth, I, not too loudly, told the photographer to, please, not tell him to close his mouth. I told him that I didn't recognize the kid that he was trying to take pictures of...that I wanted pictures of my child like I knew him. Smiling, laughing, happy. This is when Casey and I began to have fun. Many of Casey's friends were there, and we were all laughing, Casey began posing, did a few Zoolander imitations, and the shoot took on a whole life of it's own. Other parents started telling their kids to smile, and those pictures of kids with their hands folded and their heads tilted to an unnatural angle, flew right out the window.
When all the fun shots were done, Casey went to shave and put his tux on. When he came out to have his year book shot taken, well...it took my breath away. I'll never forget it. He was so handsome, so confident, so grown up.
His very last school picture was taken and, regardless of what it will cost us, it is something that will not only be worth keeping for the rest of our lives, but something worth remembering for Casey and I.