REWIND: IHOP - March 10, 2012

Michael and Nadia and Chris and I had a late lunch at IHOP one lazy March Saturday.  As usual, I took pictures of us and of food in the restaurant.  Lunch was over and we were out in the parking lot getting ready to come home, when I thought of taking one more picture with IHOP in the background.  I asked them to stop so I could take the shot, at which point Michael said,  "It's not a special occasion.  Why are we taking pictures?" 

Michael is my most tradition-loving child.  He is the one who goes the extra mile to make sure we celebrate every birthday and every holiday the conventional way.  Soon he will be getting married to his fiancee Nadia in a Catholic Church ceremony followed by a traditional wedding reception.  Michael is a family man. 

But Michael does not have children yet.  He is not yet subject to that invisible force that parents feel.  He is not yet compelled to record every moment, freeze every scene, and take every picture -- special occasion or not.

 Late lunch at IHOP

A no-occasion photograph, a treasure nonetheless.