To connect 7 seemingly unrelated photos and use them to tell a cohesive story was harder than I expected.

Here is my story:

A little girl sat in front of a mirror with a magazine on her lap. The magazine showed a picture of Jane Russell, who, at the time, was the beauty ideal. The little girl wanted to know how she could look like her. She didn’t realize that she was already as beautiful as her.

She was now too grown up for her old doll, which sat lopsided in the corner of the room. The girl now had a new aspiration: to be a famous star. She already had the hair and fashion perfected.

Across the girl’s small town, a boy was at his doctor’s appointment. He was a rambunctious and mischievous little boy who was always getting dirty and touching things he wasn’t supposed to. It drove everyone around him crazy. His doctor was no exception.

The doctor was getting the syringe ready to give the boy a shot in his arm. He didn’t realize that the boy was in the process of pulling down his pants, while standing on a chair!

As fate would have it, these two end up attending the same school. From the moment the boy first saw the girl he was infatuated. The girl didn’t pay much attention to him, thinking he was just a silly boy. During their senior year, the boy finally gathered enough courage and asked the girl out.

He bought her a bouquet of daisies, which smelled exquisite. They went to a diner. He carried her peach sweater and gloves. They sat and talked until the server told them they had to leave. He wasn’t a silly boy after all.

A couple years later, they were married with a son. They also had a dog and a cat. However, they weren’t always happy. The boy, now a man, was stressed from his responsibilities. The girl, now a woman, couldn’t always handle him. She began to resent him.

The young girl’s dream of being famous had died in the woman’s mind. She was now a housewife and a mother. While she adored her son with all her heart, he took after his father.

Years passed and the couple had a daughter and another son. The three children ran the mother ragged. Toys were everywhere, and the moment something was cleaned, seconds later it was cluttered again. The mother couldn’t do it alone anymore.

She told her husband what was happening and that something needed to change. Not wanting to loose her, or his children, the husband started doing better. He was more present at home.

The holidays arrived and the family of five was finally happy. Their family and friends noticed the change in the dynamic and were pleased. When visiting family members, their arms were loaded with presents and smiles were each of their faces.

Years later, their oldest son was enlisting in the service. Everyone was so proud of him. The whole family was there to watch him leave. They would miss him enormously. The other two children were growing up fast too. The man and woman loved each other and remembered the boy and girl they once were.