I’m not sure when the tradition started. Definitely more than 20 years ago. I would come home from California. My sister and her family would come home from Georgia. And we would take a selfie of the three (or more) of us. Sometimes it was Mom, Ashley (my sister) and me. Before Grandma M passed, she would be in pictures as well. Sometimes Ashley’s daughter jumped into the frame.

This was before iPhones and before digital cameras. I would hold the camera out, aim towards our faces, take a few shots, and then hope the photos would be more or less in focus and in frame. We continued this tradition each time we were together, which was often just once a year, or once every couple of years. Most of the photos were of Mom, Ashley, and me.

Sunday I attended my nephew’s college graduation. After the ceremony, I pointed the camera at Ashley and me, tears welling in my eyes. It was the first selfie without Mom in the frame.