Dana reached out looking for a last minute photographer, wanting to capture the moment with her family before her mother was scheduled to begin Chemotherapy that week.

My stomach lurched. Both my mother and mother in law are, thanks to G-d, cancer survivors.

Dana’s mother is battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer. But she wanted to keep it quiet during the session, because her brother still didn’t know about it. He has Fragile X, and she wanted him to enjoy the session.

I wondered if I would. I wondered if I would keep it together.

It was an expectedly emotional process. Both the session and when we viewed the images and came up with a plan for them. I am so grateful to begin the process of creating an album for her, one that she will be able to pass down to her daughters.

I wish Dana and her family a lifetime of health and joy.

Update:

On Thursday, my children dressed up for my daughter’s kindergarten graduation, and I had to whisk them outside to capture the occasion. Before I had children, I would sometimes see images from friends’ preschool graduation ceremonies, and scoff, “That’s not a REAL graduation.” I had no idea the tremendous emotions that would accompany each milestone.

Chaya Mushka Children’s House took in my toddlers starting 5 years ago, and have provided a home of love, guidance, structure, and inspiration. They recognized the individualized strengths in each, and paved and beautifully individualized path. My family is heading in a new direction, and while they will not be by my side, they will be at the core of who we are. http://chayamushka.org/preschool/

I watched my daughter cross the stage with poise and confidence, reflecting on when I wore her as a baby only a blink ago, and trying desperately to look “fine.”