By request :)

In a recent post, I wrote about dh's 60th birthday, and that

* My own favourite gift that dh received was from Oldest Nephew & his bride -- a framed b&w photo from their wedding last fall, of dh & me with the handsome groom. I LOVE IT. :)

In her comment, Mel wrote:

Okay, I have a post idea -- I would like to read WHY you like the picture. We all have those pictures that we look at and instantly love, but pinpoint the why. Why that one and not another. I think it would make an interesting post :-)

I hesitated before deciding to go ahead with this post -- because it was obvious to me that it's hard to write about a photo and why I like it without showing you the photo itself. I don't put a lot of personal photos on this blog, and the few photos I've shared of our nephews here have generally been ones where they're only visible in profile or from the back, etc.

But the idea was irresistible ;) so here's the photo:

Why I like it:  :) 

• I love b&w photography. I wouldn't want ALL my photos to be b&w, of course -- but I think it looks great here, especially with the black frame & white mat. (And sitting on my b&w quartz countertop, lol.) 
• Dh & I are all dressed up (a rarity these days!!) and looking pretty good for an old married couple, if I do say so myself. ;)  (As I wrote in this blog -- several times, I think!! lol)  I LOVED my dress;  it totally rocked and gave me enormous self-confidence for a very important family occasion.
• As a family historian, diarist and occasional scrapbooker, photos are very important to me. Taking, sharing and preserving photos (and the stories behind them) have long been a part of my life. I took most of the photos that exist of both nephews when they were growing up -- they were my favourite subjects. Unfortunately, although I took tons of photos on Nephew's wedding day, I didn't hand over the camera & get someone else to take a photo of Nephew with dh & me. So I was completely tickled that he & his Bride thought to give dh a photo from their wedding as a special gift on his birthday. 
• I will never have a photo of myself with my daughter on her wedding day. :(  But this is probably the next best thing. :)
• Dh & I were included in several official photos that day -- there were photos taken of us with Nephew, with Nephew & the Bride, with both nephews and their parents, etc. I am not entirely sure why they chose this photo of us with Nephew alone, and not one that included the Bride too.  I know that the Bride, who is highly self-critical, didn't like how she looked in most of the photos they got (! -- silly girl...! ;)  ), so I suspect that may have had something to do with it. ;)  But I also think they may have chosen it because it's a great photo of the three of us, and a reflection of the love & the special relationship we share.
• We adore both our nephews, and have special relationships with them both, obviously for slightly different reasons. Oldest Nephew will always be special to us in part because he was the first and (because we lived closer to his parents when he was born) we got to spend more time with him as a baby than we did with his brother. We are also his godparents, which (as you know from the movies, lol) is considered a great honour in Italian culture. We have never missed one of his birthday celebrations. He was an adorable baby -- and, as you can see here, he has grown up to become a very handsome (and, more important, kind and thoughtful) young man. We are so very, very proud of him (and his brother). I think you can see that pride and love reflected in this photo. :) 
• I love how our heads are all close together (as directed by the photographer) -- and how he's so tall that mine is resting on his broad shoulder, lol. I love that it doesn't look awkward. I love the big grins that all three of us are wearing.
• Oldest Nephew's wedding day was a huge, joyful event in our family -- and this photo is a wonderful reminder of that day & how happy we all were.  (And I'm hoping to get a similar photo about a year from now, when his brother, Younger Nephew, gets married!)