On aging.

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I was catching up with a friend yesterday who told me his son just turned 18 last week. Suddenly he’s getting messages from places like insurance companies and banks and pediatricians to notify him of his child’s adult status. He can no long pull a vaccine record for him because it’s a HIPPA violation.

And sure, they got notice that he’s going to be valedictorian of his class and he’s an incredible musician, too, and man, it’s cool to watch your kids grow up…

but my youngest son turned 3 last week. Not 18.

He still needs me to open his snacks and falls asleep with his rosy round toddler cheeks pressed against my shoulder. I can’t even fathom that life is so long that there will be point when he could turn 18.

And yet, apparently it happens anyway.

“There is an articulation of life one hears again and again. People will say, ‘oh, this is only a season.’…[…] I take issue with this. There are, by definition, four sessons that repeat in measured pattern year after year. As there is no such rhythm in human life, I have to think that when it comes to seasons we all get one round. We are born and grow through childhood in spring. We live those glorious, lively, interesting years of our twenties, thrities, forties in summer. We settle into ourselves in autumn, that cool but not yet cold time, rich and aromatic. And in winter we age (brutally) and die. One turn of the seasons per person, unless it’s cut short, like it was for Gill, and like it was for Quintana Roo.

I think of life rather like a long road we walk in one direction. By and large a lonesome walk out in the wildness of hills and wind. Mountains. Snow. And sometimes there is someone to come along and walk with you for a stretch.”

- The Correspondent

I always send a few preview photos to families in the days following a session because I know the excitement and anticipation is high. Minutes after emailing these, I got a text from the mom that turned into a really beautiful conversation about aging between two women in the second half of their 30’s just trying to hang on.

Moira - I am suddenly overwhelmed with regret. It's a new feeling for me, and I don't find it at all pleasurable.

Stevie - You regret that embarassing photos of you aren't online?

Moira - No, I regret that they're lost. They were the one perfect memorial to who I once was. And I should've appreciated those firm round mammae and callipygian ass while I had them.

Stevie - If you're talking about your body, uh... I think you still look amazing.

Moira - Then allow me to offer you some advice: Take a thousand, naked pictures of yourself now. You may currently think, "Oh, I'm too spooky." Or, "Nobody wants to see these tiny boobies." But, believe me, one day you will look at those photos with much kinder eyes and say, "Dear God, I was a beautiful thing!"

Stevie - Will I?

Moira - Mm-hm. Oh, and make sure you submit those photos to the Internet. Otherwise, your own children will go looking for them one day and, tragically, they won't be there.

-Schitts Creek

Thinking of my current life as summer beats the alternative - which the entire internet seems to agree is just exhausted millenial chaos in a Stanley cup with better skincare.

I feel like summer lately.

And I like making pictures that feel like summer in the way that they paint parenthood for it’s delightful parts. I'm not the one you hire if you want every wrinkle photoshopped away and your children looking like angel statues.

But I think it's fair to say I am the one you call when you want to photos that will hold a feeling dear and see your world with kinder eyes.

If it's rosy toddler cheeks, or the laugh lines you've earned - the summer of your life or the gorgeous cool of autumn and yes, even the slower days winter (I've received several extended family session inquiries lately and capturing those generational stories is something powerful)— I'm right here waiting to walk alongside you for a stretch.

We can make pictures on any part of your road.

// new + noteworthy //

A POEM // This one feels especially relevant to the mid-thirties talk.

AN EASY + DELICIOUS DINNER // We've had several nights this month that left me coming in the door with all 3 children at 6pm to the immediate sounds of “WHAT's FOR DINNER” as if I haven't been with them for the last few hours instead of making food??! But the gorgonzola gnocchi's from TJ's + some roasted brussels = a comfy win that's ready in 10.

Quick tip for the sprouts - I love a good long roasting situation, but in a pinch, I'll steam them in the microwave for 4 minutes, cut them in half, spritz with EVOO, and broil them for a few to get the same nice crisp. A little drizzle of honey and balsamic to finish - voila.

SOMETHING TO LISTEN TO // We're on the Olivia Dean train - her last two records are so good. I also recently got Hozier on vinyl and love telling my son “no, you can't skip this song” and while I listen through every moody moment.

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