Moments Frozen in Time

"A picture is worth a thousand words," is probably the most generic cliche that I can think of. As much as it made me cringe just to type it out, however, it is true. As I scroll through my snapchat memories, camera rolls, physical photo albums, and miscellaneous pictures I find in my home, each one has a story behind it. One picture in particular that I could tell a thousand different stories about is one of me and my best friend, in Pennsylvania, hanging upside down on the monkey bars at our elementary school in our ballet costumes, tongues stained purple from a snack we had earlier. We used to take dance classes together,  every Tuesday we would put on our pink dance tights, ballet slippers, and leotard and skirt. Everything was pink, head to toe. We would ALWAYS match outfits because whatever she wore was the coolest thing ever, so I had to wear it too. This particular Tuesday, it was unusually sunny and warm for April, and our favorite water ice* and ice cream store had just opened for the season. To celebrate the start of the warmer months, her mom had taken us to get water ice, and being the BFF's that we were, we both got grape, because purple was our favorite color. After that, we went to the playground at our elementary school, and we played on the playground as the April air was warmed by the slowly setting sun. Other kids were here too, soaking up the unseasonable warmth. We were still in our outfits from dance, except we had swapped the ballet slippers for tennis shoes. My best friend and I were running off the sugar rush from our water ice all around the playground, and decided to do flips on the monkey bars. In this moment, as we hung upside down, tongues out, pig tails hanging in the wind, we were frozen in time forever. With the snap of a camera, a goofy 7 year old and 8 year old will forever be hanging upside down on that elementary school playgrround, in the warmth of an april sunset, filled with friendship and bliss. If you had looked at the happy picture for yourself, you would have not known this little excerpt from my childhood, and although you haven't seen it for yourseld, you know the story behind it. It is truly amazing how a simple photo can hold such a cherishable memory, and how the story behind it can evoke utmost nostalgia in us all.


*If you don't know, water ice is an east-coast dessert, its kind of like a snow cone, but kind of nothing like a snow cone. Honestly, just google it, I can't describe it.