{Warning! Sentimental post here.}
I love my job so much. Like, so so so much. It is really incredible to one day be taking some of the very first photographs of a brand new baby and then the next be taking some of a high school senior who’s getting ready to take on the rest of their life. Both are such incredible and monumental times filled with such joy and happiness and hope for the future. While the pictures are taken about 17-18 years apart, I know that parents must feel like they were taken just days apart. The time goes by too quickly. One day you’re holding your infant thinking of all the dreams you have for them and then you look up and your tiny baby is now this beautiful adult with their own big dreams and goals.
These photos shake my soul a bit. Maybe because I’ve known this gorgeous girl since she was a little kid and I, myself, have no idea how she grew up this quickly. Or maybe because I know that in a couple of short years (the ones that feel like mere days) I’ll be looking at a picture of my oldest in the same place in his life. Your children are your most prized pieces of work. There is no harder job than being a parent. Some days you really do just fly by the seat of your pants and live on a prayer that you’re doing okay and not screwing up your human. I look at these photos and I think back on all the days this pretty girl’s parents spent loving her and shaping her and praying that they were doing well and giving her the best in life. I hope when they look here they see that they did. They nailed it. This girl is amazing. I hope they look here and see her beautiful soul and feel proud, as I know that they are.
Well done, mom and dad. Well done. I know you must feel like she should still be a tiny babe laying snug in your arms, I know you must feel like these days didn’t have enough hours in them and that they disappeared in the blink of an eye. I know you must because I already feel that, too. But dang, you sure made the most of them. And at the end of the day, that is the very most we can hope for, right? So well done, you guys. Thank you so much for giving me the honor to photograph your girl and sharing her with me. xoxo
