I grew up steps away from my mom’s parents and was just a short drive away from my dad’s. Spending time at each of their houses gave me some of the best childhood memories. There aren’t many photos of those days, though. I remember bits and pieces of them; riding the lawn mower with pap and big Sunday dinners at my Nanny’s house, but there isn’t a visual reminder of those stories. There are things that I wish I remember, but I just can’t.
Any time a client reaches out to me about a session that includes grandparents, I jump on the chance. These moments and memories are so important. When I think about my business and the work I am doing right now, I imagine my clients being able to pull these photos out 25 or 50 years down the road to relive the memories and share stories with future generations. These small, yet significant, moments in our lives shape us. The sum of all the minutes we spent with our grandparents in the yard made us into the adults we are today. Those memories are the stories we tell our own children. These photos are an heirloom. I am so blessed to be able to tell these stories for other families.
I walked into the home of Nolan’s grandparents with him yesterday while got dressed, and I saw a huge print of a photo I took of him with his grandfather last year on the farm. Next to that photo were four other photos of different generations on their farms. Each of those photos told a story of their own. Each one is a treasured heirloom for the family. It’s truly incredible the stories each one could evoke.
It is my hope that one day, when Nolan is much older, that he can take these photos out of a box and share the stories of his evenings in the yard that his home shared with his grandparent’s home. 
