Shutter Sisters

hellos

By

Remember the scene at the very beginning of the movie Love Actually, when Hugh Grant’s voiceover shares that one of his favourite things to do is watch people in the arrivals hall of Heathrow Airport, in London? When I first saw that scene, I felt like the writers of the movie had somehow snuck into my head: that is totally my favourite thing in the world to do. I even remember certain specific airport greetings: two Muslim men who rushed through a ceremonial bow to each other before leaping into each other’s arms for an emotional hug; a woman who’d clearly been away from her children for some time, who greeted them by sitting on the floor and clutching them both, sobbing happily. One of the downsides of traveling after September 11th is that while waiting for your own flight, you can’t watch people greet their friends as they walk off the airplane gangplank into the gate area.

I took the photo above one afternoon when my daughter Alex and I had gone outside to shoot flowers. Suddenly, she saw her friend down the street, at about the same time her friend saw her. They went running toward each other like one of those old movies — and then they hugged, laughing and giggling. I snapped away.

I really love hellos.

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On this wonderful spring day, wherever you are, please share your images of gleeful greetings in the comments below. 

And may someone give you a heartfelt hello today.

 

(Crossposted at Chookooloonks)

Comments

  2. How adorable those two are! I was so happy when I found out in Love Actually that the opening scenes are real, shot by candid cameras.

    I just put up a post and the first photo was after we were done shooting and had walked away as my husband collected up our things. Then I heard Bella squeal and turned around to see what she saw. Daddy, of course. Every time she sees him her greeting is larger than life, even after one minute of not seeing him.

    http://tumblieweed.blogspot.com/2009/04/sunny-streak.html

  8. hellos are fabulous. thank you for reminding me. i intentionally had my 3rd baby close to my 2nd. i wanted them to that way in hopes they would be best buddies. but after a difficult pregnancy i brought home a colicky baby 23 months younger than her brother. it was rougher than rough. many days i sobbed wondering what did we do? but now 3 years later my hopes for them and their relationship is now realized on a daily basis. sure they fight, but gosh they love. they love deep and true and hard. they sometime wander apart while playing then the youngest will turn realizing she "lost" her brother and call his name and they run back together just like a scene from a movie. and oh yes love actually is THE BEST EVER! that part in the beginning chokes me up every time!
    anyway. i love capturing them running to each other and embrace like they haven’t seen each other for days though it was only minutes.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/14811117@N02/3314001735/in/set-72157608567502330/

  9. My husband and I dated long distance for four years before marrying and me moving across the country to live with him, and got to see each other maybe 3 times a year or so, so we had those wonderful airport ‘hellos’ and the awful, heartwrenching ‘goodbyes’. As wonderful as those hellos were, though, I love just getting to say good morning each and every day. 🙂

  14. gosh, what a great post and great idea for today. Unfortunately living where I don’t see people for weeks on end, I don’t have anything I can offer … I too love watching people greet one another. I’ve seen it in coffee shops at times though it subdued compared to the joyful greetings in airports. I will certainly keep my camera ready and my eyes open the next time I am anywhere near people. (one of the drawbacks of living in the boondocks) Thank you for this joy!

  15. i have no photo to share today.
    but i still had to leave a comment to say what a wonderful shot this is. it is perfect to me, because it is a real moment captured—nothing planned or posed about it. absolutely beautiful in every sense! and it reminds me of the way i feel when i meet up with my twin sister or a friend who i have not seen in a while.

  27. Gosh, they look so happy. I love hellos, especially in airports. I love the feeling of slowly breaking into a smile as you see that one person you’ve been waiting for. Hopefully I will have my very own hello in a month to post here.

  29. I just got goosebumps… will be travelling soon… and on the lookout for such scenes… *sigh* and possibly some of my own!