Flay Day 2012

To celebrate Flag Day (and just for fun), Sarah and I worked together to create some truly fun, vintage-inspired images.

I had borrowed my dad's Army uniform from my sister who has legal, full-time custody.  I had this idea about having my son, David, wear the uniform for a kind of rite-of-passage kind of photo shoot.  David simply wasn't "feelin' it", so I mentioned the idea to Sarah. 

Not expecting to her to be interested, especially since the temperature in Memphis now hovers around 90, I hesitantly showed her the uniform jacket and (surprise!) she loved it!  We talked a bit about what kind of clothes would compliment Daddy's jacket and yet put a contemporary spin on it.  She exceeded my expectations :-)

So although it was pushing 90 degrees last night, and the fact that Collierville hosts a Summer Concert Series on Town Square every Thursday night (yes, I should have checked before we drove over there), we found a spot on a side street where there just happens to be an Army Surplus store.  Perfect.  Absolutely perfect.

So with Daddy's jacket, Sarah's interpretation of the era, and an adventurous spirit, we accomplished our mission of taking the "old" and doing something completely "new". 

Here's the crazy thing.  I didn't instruct Sarah for the pose in the photograph below.  She just did and I just snapped.  When I was choosing my favorite shots for this post, I realized there was a significant similarity between this shot and a snapshot of Daddy taken in Germany while he was serving during the Korean War.

There's no doubt that if he could see this, it would make him smile.....a lot.  It make me smile...a lot.  Thank you, Rose, for sharing the uniform.  Thank you, Sarah, for pulling off a fun evening!  You're the best!!

Actually, Aunt Rose, if you ever get to a point in which you need to relinquish custody, I think your niece would be most thrilled to step up to the responsibility.