I never met Aleida Franklin, but I knew she was a wonderful wife and mother and a brilliant artist. I didn't know Aleida personally, but she taught me something I will never forget.
Aleida and I came together through the scrapbooking industry. She emailed me to tell me she loved my blog and to ask if I like my short hair-cut. This lead to a series of emails which eventually led me to remark that I really loved how often she posted pictures of herself with her children on her blog. And she replied to me, "Have you ever seen a photograph of your own mother and thought to yourself how fat she looked? Or how she wasn't wearing make-up? Or wasn't dressed in a glamorous outfit?" Of course my answer was no.
She then responded with saying that she made it a goal to take a picture of herself with her children at least once every month. And that to use excuses about how we look, as women, is ridiculous, since our children will never care what we looked like, but only that we had physical evidence of the bond between mother and child. Read her lovely blog post about it here.
On September 8th, 2008 Aleida blogged a photo of herself, smiling, that read "Live today like there is no tomorrow." On September 12th, 2008 Aleida was struck by another car on her way to work and passed away, leaving 2 small children and a grieving husband. She was 41 years old. After she passed I thought of how those children must feel to have those precious photographs.
On September 8th, 2008 Aleida blogged a photo of herself, smiling, that read "Live today like there is no tomorrow." On September 12th, 2008 Aleida was struck by another car on her way to work and passed away, leaving 2 small children and a grieving husband. She was 41 years old. After she passed I thought of how those children must feel to have those precious photographs.
I have made it my personal goal to follow her wise suggestion and I now take photos of myself with my children....double chins, make-up free, bed-head and all.
I invite Mothers everywhere to take Aleida's Challenge. To photograph yourself with your children each and every month. And to post them here or use hashtag #ALEIDASCHALLENGE on twitter and instagram, so that we can see Aleida's legacy unfolding.
Each month/week (dependiong on how many there are) I will share my favorites on Instagram, so make sure to tag your photos and follow me (PluckyMomo) to see if your photo was chosen.
Each month/week (dependiong on how many there are) I will share my favorites on Instagram, so make sure to tag your photos and follow me (PluckyMomo) to see if your photo was chosen.
35 comments:
What an amazing woman! I agree many of us stay behind the camera and never come out.
Love your photo!
love this idea! I have never met Aleida either - but have heard her story before! I will try to do this :)
Amazing woman and wonderful challenge.
Thank you for this post and for the challenge...wow!
i still think of her words all the time. i printed out that last picture of her from her blog and was just looking at it the other day. I wish Peace for her family and hope they are doing well.
Love this idea. I took the challenge and shared it with our readers here. Linked back to you. Hope that's ok. Thanks for sharing!!
http://housewivesofriverton.blogspot.com/2013/01/aleidas-challenge.html
~Jenn
As a cancer patient with three children and no idea how long she has left, I find it disturbing that we wait for someone to DIE before we honor themin this way!
I didn't wait for Aleida to die to honor her. I began taking photos of myself with my kids, because of her example, well before she passed. But I do want to share her legacy with others. The fact that I never even met her and still think of her often is something I think each of us would hope for after we pass. Maybe you could have read this from a positive perspective instead of anonymously spreading misguided negativity.
I didn't wait for Aleida to die to honor her. I began taking photos of myself with my kids, because of her example, well before she passed. But I do want to share her legacy with others. The fact that I never even met her and still think of her often is something I think each of us would hope for after we pass. Maybe you could have read this from a positive perspective instead of anonymously spreading misguided negativity.
You are highly inaccurate in your comment. Those lucky enough to know her ensured she knew how much we loved and adored her for the amazing person she was and how she enriched our lives. This challenge is a clear indication of how her legacy lives on.
Ok, in tears here. I remember the day she died as though it was yesterday. I will never forget it. I was off work that day and had plans to speak with her later in the day but that didnt happen. I miss her so much. I always will. I was truly blessed by her friendship.
Ugh negative people. This is awesome Emilie, don't let the negative get you down!
I had never met her IRL either but earlier that year, she had sent me a message about my blog and my layouts and had invited me to join her blog challenges. Her emails to me also got me started on putting myself in more pictures that i had and for her i am grateful....am gonna definitely take part in this challenge! Will link ya back some silly pics!!
I've seen Aleida's story before and I commend you for bringing it back to our hearts and minds again! She had a great passion and it's wonderful to continue to pass that on to other families!!! Thanks for this beautiful reminder from two precious ladies!!!!
I found this because I follow Stephanie Howell (MME) on IG. I immediately followed her tags and went to your blog. I am so going to do this ... I am horrible about getting pictures of myself with my kids! So with many thanks to you for bringing Aleida's challenge to light because 2013 is going to be different for me with at least one photo a week with my children. <3 Thank You <3
Love it Emilie...what a great challenge! Not sure if I'll ever get back to post/link but I'm definitely doing the photo with my kids thing. I've made it a point since my husband walked out to do formal family photo shoots once/year with me and the kids to document our new life but this is extra special :) Thanks!!
Brilliant idea! Thanks for sharing this and starting this challenge. I just blogged about it. :)
This is such a wonderful idea! I'm totally in... :D I posted on facebook to challenge my friends and family too... such a wonderful idea! I'll blog about too to help spread the word!
What a great reminder! I remember thinking my mother was SO glamorous, but Aleida was right, I never thought she was sloppy or fat. In every picture she is my beautiful loving mother. Every child should have a large pictures just like that to remind them of that bond. This is such a wonderful tribute to Aleida's memory and to our own children.
Just posted a photo to twitter. I love this challenge and do want the kids to remember how I loved them, not how I loved taking pictures of them.
I'm a bit behind in my blog reading, and came across your blog via Stephanie Howell. I am ABSOLUTELY doing this. EVERY day counts!! (And I just wanted to say it's WONDERFUL to FINALLY meet someone with the same name!)
I do not have children but plan on having them in the future. I am going to make sure I take lots and lots of pictures of my husband & me (individually and together) so that our kids can look through pictures of us from when we were "young & fun". I love, love, love seeing pictures of my parents before they had us kids.
I love the idea of this challenge. I clicked thru from a link on Cheri's blog, I Am Momma - Hear Me Roar. I am going to be doing this. I need to be in more pictures and sometimes I need a reminder.
One photo a month -- just 12. I can do that! Count me in and thank you for putting this together ... in honor of all of us mamas.
I found your blog through Pinterest and just subscribed to it. Am joining the challenge to take pictures with our kids every month this year. What a beautiful tribute to your friend and a great reminder to all of us moms.
I saw your post on Nathalie's FB page and came to read as it struck a chord with me. My mom was one of those who hid from the camera and I followed suit. When she passed away I realized I had only a handful of pictures of her. I haven't hidden from the camera since. Pictures with my grands - bring it on!
saw this on Pinterest back in Dec, pinned it and am just getting started...Did my first photo today and am getting ready to blog about it and post to the flickr group...am gonna do it on the 21st of each month! Just a note that the kids will stay the same but my hair color will definitely cahnge month to month LOL * thanks for the challenge!
This is such a beautiful and moving story. Thank you for setting up this challenge and reminding me that its the simple things that really matter. I have no baby photos of myself with anyone as my parents could not afford a camera! My how times have changed. I don't usually post images of me and my child on social media so I wont be contributing to the challenges numbers. I will be taking this photo every month from now on and suggesting to my friends that they all do as well. Thank you for sharing this story and challenge with us all.
Sx
Such a great reminder! Life is too short!!
Wow. Cool!! I'm doing it.
I also was good friends with her. And when this happened I was so upset. I had just emailed her that very morning. So glad to see this!! You honor her!
I just happen to stumble upon your blog looking for a meal planner and I came across this! Thank you thank you thank you! It was so awesome to read this. It is something I have been struggling with for a few years as I've gained some weight, lost the vibrance of my hair and just came off a very long and tiring year with my first child being premature. I see all these other couples posing together with their kid(s), with the holidays its ramped up. I don't remember the last time my husband and I posed together, we have maybe three photos of my husband, daughter and I together and I feel so guilty. Its my hang up that I really need to work on and post gave me a little confidence to make it my new years resolution.
A thousand of thanks !
This is so inspiring and reality based. I pray for her 2 girls and thank you for passing on a piece of such a wise, special Mom.
WOW! Love this. Just read about Aleida on another blog and it brought me here. I will be posting the button on my blog. What a wonderful thing to pass on!!!
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