"Family Is Everything" — Mike’s Voice

The original photograph was taken on Christmas Day, 1985. It is the only photograph I know of that includes all seven members of the Jensen family together — and it became the last Christmas we would all share as one. At the time, it was simply a family picture. Years later, it became something much more.

The Quote

“Family is everything.” I first came to appreciate those words when my brother Michael used them while counseling me through a family disagreement. Mike had a way of cutting through the noise. Family is everything. Simple. Direct. True.

Years later, for his fiftieth birthday, I gave him a framed copy of our 1985 Christmas photograph with those words engraved above it. The phrase stayed with me. It began appearing in my writing, in the way I thought about family, and eventually throughout Captivating Memoirs. When I created the Story Portrait from that old Christmas photograph, there was never really any question about the headline.

FAMILY IS EVERYTHING

Our Last Jensen Christmas Together as One. December 25, 1985.

Sometimes a photograph preserves a moment. Sometimes the words attached to it preserve something even more important — the voice of someone we loved.

The Original

Michael Christian Jensen
1960–2018

Michael Christian Jensen - my brother, whose words “Family is Everything” became a lifelong family mantra.

I have always treasured that Christmas photograph. And I treasure Mike’s memory. He was truly the best of us. The original. And those words still belong to him.

“Family is everything.” Mike’s voice.

I hear it every day