“W e’re going on vacation…” I sang out loudly in what I call my best singing voice (my brother calls it a dying frog’s final croak) from my perch on top of a pile of neatly folded T-shirts getting ready for D (departure) day which was very early the following morning. This wasn’t going to be just an ordinary vacation. No way! This was guaranteed to be the most amazing dazzling spectacular winter vacation I had ever experienced. For the first time ever (and probably also the last) the entire extended Levin family was joining together for ten days in one of Florida’s most luxurious hotels and I Atara Levin the self-proclaimed family photographer was ready to tackle the momentous task of capturing every moment of this historic event. With my latest-model camera six memory cards two spare batteries and my tripod nobody could say I wasn’t prepared.

The first three days were as wonderful as they describe them in the storybooks. The hotel exceeded even the fussiest of my relatives’ expectations. The family was all getting along beautifully — quite a remarkable feat — and my grandparents shepped their much-deserved nachas. Early morning swims exciting daily excursions extravagant buffet meals and late-night jaunts were all par for the course. It was all very nice but I didn’t really have too much time to enjoy myself. 

I was far too busy rushing from group to group from one place to the next not wanting to miss even a single pose. As the days passed people places and events became one big blur but I consoled myself in knowing that long after the trip was over I’d have the wonderful memories to savor in the form of my photos. Although I was slowly turning into a photo-snapping sleep-walking zombie nonetheless I kept up my self-imposed mission to capture every moment. Until the fourth night.