Old family photo

My mother sent this picture to me several years ago. It's one of the last pictures of all the kids together before I left for my mission. I pulled it out of a box recently and laughed as I studied it a bit.

First of all, just before the picture was taken whoever yelled "hey mom check your glasses," that was not cool.

This picture contains several clues that hint to people that it was not taken by a professional. I will not get into those.

Here's some things about this picture I think are interesting:

See my two sisters, Carrie and Lindsey, on the end. Don't they seem more choreographed, more photogenic than anybody else in this picture? It's almost as if they are the only ones who planned out how they would stand, angled toward each other.

Mark is holding Carrie's son Davey. He is my mother's son who is still best with children. If we all lived near each other, I'm confident he would be the favorite uncle of nearly every niece and nephew.

See little Adam kneeling next to my mom. That just screams mommy's boy, doesn't it? Well, he is the youngest, most sensitive boy of the brood. He has the heart of a lion.

Ethan, hands in pockets, looks self assured but he may be hiding something. Keith, only his head is visible, appears to be hiding himself.

I'm on the end in that tight, green shirt. I still wear tight shirts on occasion but they are tight in different places now. Unlike my mother, I was ready for this picture, as the pose suggests.

Soon after I got off my mission, I took a speech class at McLennan Community College where during one class the professor talked about looking natural when speaking. He told the class to avoid the very pose I am exhibiting in this picture. He called it -- and I love this -- the fig leaf.

It's the pose of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they had eaten the fruit and discovered their nakedness. I haven't pulled the fig leaf pose out of my tool box of social skills in many, many years. I look at the fig leaf pose as similar to using training wheels to ride a bike.

Thank goodness I can balance on my own now.

I've also stopped telling my mother to check her glasses just before somebody snaps a picture.