This photo is from the summer of 1948, in Old Lyme, Connecticut. My father was about two years old here, sporting a grin I still see today.

He says his earliest memory was from this summer, on the 4th of July. He remembers sparklers.

What drew me to this picture (and to family photos in general) is the chance it afforded me to see my father as more than just my father.

Looking at this photo, I also thought of how limited our understanding of a person is without photography. And I thought of how important it is to remember that we were all once children. We were each born with two simple but intertwined desires, to love and be loved.

This photo suggests to me a common humanity between young and old. Is it possible that our desire to love and be loved does not vanish over time, like our youth? Perhaps we are never far from the children we once embodied, even after the click of the shutter? ~shared by @annetaylor84