For years I have gotten choked up shooting senior portraits, some for kids I had known their whole lives and others whom I didn’t meet until their portrait session. I have loved seeing them so hopeful and full of potential, right on the cusp of life’s grandest adventures; it is such a spectacular time! But obviously this incredible FCHS senior’s portrait session elicited all the feels. This beautiful girl’s very existence made my dream of motherhood a reality, and being her mother has exceeded my every expectation. Since her birth, she has made every single one of my days better; the ways she has enriched my life are immeasurable. Her natural strengths are miraculously the areas of my own perpetual “growth opportunities”. She is cautious, patient, and gracious in ways that sometimes have me wondering how she could possibly be my child. Her unshakeable faith and steadfastness humble me. I am in awe of her wisdom and open-mindedness (especially remembering myself at her age). Her senior year only just started; in fact, her entire life seems to have just started, yet suddenly here we are. Time has absolutely spiraled out of control, and now I vacillate between giddy anticipation for the amazing experiences she will have next year at W&L (and beyond) and the devastating reality that the marvelous life as we know it with her physically a part of our daily lives is about to come to a screeching halt. I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the gift of each moment I get to spend with her;  I am sure she couldn’t possibly know how so very much I love her.

“The feeling that I’m losing her forever and without really entering her world. I’m glad whenever I can share her laughter, that funny little girl. Slipping through my fingers all the time, I try to capture every minute. The feeling in it slipping through my fingers all the time. Do I really see what’s in her mind each time I think I’m close to knowing she keeps on growing, slipping through my fingers all the time. Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture and save it from the funny tricks of time.” -Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson