The Whole Family in One Photo

For my grandparents' sixtieth anniversary, we tried to take a photo of all forty-three descendants in front of their farmhouse. It took two hours.

A baby needed a diaper change. A toddler refused to wear shoes. My uncle kept blinking. The photographer, a nervous teenager from town, had to climb onto the roof of a pickup truck to get everyone in. Halfway through, the dog escaped and ran through the front row.

Finally, my grandfather shouted, "Everybody say 'sixty years!'" and we all did, laughing, and the kid clicked the shutter.

It's not a perfect photo. My cousin's eyes are closed. Someone's arm is blurry. The dog is a streak in the corner. My grandmother had it blown up to poster size and hung it in the living room. She says it's the best thing she owns.