Parting Gifts

It seems that Pictures are going to be my parting gifts. I like it. It's a way to give someone a hold on a memory that they may not have the means to do themselves. And it's inspiring to me. I get excited when I know something is important to someone... and it makes me want to capture it for them.

I have a good friend here, Sara (above, second from the right) and her good friend Mary (above far right) is leaving Qingdao this year after living here for almost 8 years. Mary and her husband adopted a little girl from China last year and she has some special needs that require attention in the States. It's a difficult departure for them, much like it is for us (times two since they have been here twice as long).

Sara and Mary and a few other friends have this long tradition of walking (nearly every day, and sometimes even more than that) into the center of town for Bubble Tea. This event holds all kinds of sentiment for them, from who they walk with, to the place they get it from, to the mysterious hold Bubble Tea has on them, to the years they have performed this almost daily routine.

When I found out they had no pictures of this place, or of them doing it together, I asked if I could tag along one day to try and capture it for them. And they let me. It almost seemed silly, but I know how sweet it is to have a visual stamp of a place and the people you were there with. And I hope this is just a token of that for them.