Slowly. Oh ever so slowly…I am learning to embrace. The hot and the cold. The blue and the gray. The sun and the snow.
This is not my ideal. To live alongside the chill. In fact, I’m convinced a dormant sun is not good for the soul.
However, I am learning that I cannot fully appreciate one without the other. Truth is…I think there might just be beauty in both…
…the sun has been peeking the past couple of days…and that is all I need..
Much Love,
Krysta xo
*Sigh*
I don’t even know where to begin. I have started re-writing this post so many times…. Meet Hannah. She is incredibly special to me. The first time I held her, she was nine months old. She had chubby cheeks, big blue eyes, and such a gentle nature. I began babysitting for her when I was in the seventh grade. I remember putting on her lullabies when she went to sleep and hearing Carole King’s “Child of Mine” lyrics. To this day, when I hear that song, I have flashbacks of Hannah at that age. …and then she grew and began talking and couldn’t say my name. So it is, one day when they were coming to pick me up she started calling me “Cowca”. Thus, the shortened version of “Cowcie” came about and I don’t ever recall a time from then on that my father didn’t address me by the Hannah given name. Shortly after, Hannah received a brother and they moved across town. I became their summer nanny strapping on my rollerblades every morning at 7:00 and making my way to the other side of town to play with two children I adored. Hannah was almost five then and had long golden hair. I would walk in every morning to her watching her morning cartoons and eating cereal. I sat every morning braiding her hair and telling her mother to always keep it long because it was so pretty. But sadly, I grew up and it was time for me to go to college and so my visits came on my trips home. …and when my father left this life it was Hannah’s father who guided him onto the next…and all I could think was that I would miss hearing him say, “Hey Cowccciiieee”….a gift from Hannah. Two girls. Two fathers. Many gifts given and received between the two…
The day her mother e-mailed me asking me to take Hannah’s senior pictures I sat dumbfounded. How had that much time passed? It made me feel old and when I looked through the lens that day, I honestly saw the same five year old girl with the long golden hair. I kept putting my camera down and turning to her mom saying, “But..but she’s supposed to be litttttle? How did we get here?” :(
Hannah – you are such a gorgeous being and you know how much I adore you. For my own sanity, I’m going to keep telling myself that you’re really not going off to college next year. However, if it so happens that one day you end up on a college campus, taking classes, and living in a dorm room…you know…if that happens one day….well I will be so very happy for you knowing you will be right where you belong. You possess such grace and such beauty and I feel so very blessed that you and your family came into my life when you did. Big blessings…
Much Love to you always Gorgeous Girl,
Cowca xo
Taken yesterday in our room shortly after waking up. I love his messy bed hair and little boy jammies that he’s almost grown out of. :(
As much as I love capturing his smiles and giggles…I love catching him in his quiet moments too….
Much Love,
Krysta
…another one of those shoots where I walked away feeling like I stayed 100 percent true to myself. It’s always a good feeling knowing that you’ve come together with another artistic mind and collaborated to produce something ethereal and beautiful. Anya is a student at the Milwaukee High School of the Arts with a theatre emphasis. She will be graduating a year early and then leaving to spend a year in Italy which is so inspiring to me. She is eccentric and genuine and a lover of life. She has a contagious attitude of how she views the world and how we should live while we’re here. She lives for the moment and savours every second of it. It was such an honor to spend an afternoon in her presence and the images above are some of my absolute favorites…
Much Love,
Krysta