most important photo

The photograph most important to me is a portrait of my family from about fifteen years ago, the only portrait we've ever taken all together. It reminds me of this family's daguerreotype-- the father unsmiling, the mother with a strained attempt at a smile, and the baby, asleep. I was the baby in our version of this picture, but instead of sleeping, I was crying. Apparently my parents had such a hard time getting me to stop crying that they decided never to have our picture taken in a studio again.