People Appreciation

First of all, I can't believe another year has passed. What makes me realize just how quickly they go is annual events such as the HP Hood Quarter Century Club luncheon. I am pretty sure I have blogged about this before, but basically this is the annual luncheon to honor those employees who have worked or worked at HP Hood for 25 or more years.

This year marked the 6th year that I have been the official photographer for this event. There are so many things that make this event special, but first and foremost is the fact that I get to see so many people I worked with for years all in one place.

There was a rather sad moment though. The odd thing is that what I am about to share seems to have bothered me more this year, although I am sure it is something I probably should have noticed every year I attended.

A highlight of the event is placing the pictures out on a designated table of shots taken the previous year. Believe me, this is truly a highlight of the day. The very first thing that an attendee does, right after slapping on their name tag, is run (well walk, slowly) over to "the table" to look and see how many pictures they can find with them in it. Well, toward the end of the event, yet while everyone was having their dessert, I walked over to the table to look at what pictures could be handed out to those that may be in attendance but did not get a chance to pick up their picture.

As I glanced over the shots, I noticed some pictures of people and their name tags. I picked up one of the booklets for the event which has a page or two of names of folks who died during the last year. How sad it was to be holding in one hand pictures of people who's names where in that booklet.

It surely does put things into perspective. For me, it reminds me of one of the reasons I truly love photography.