Why photography?

I'm a wife, a mom, a teacher. And several years ago my wonderful husband purchased a camera for me to take pictures of our son.

Shortly after, we found out we were welcoming another baby - no...TWO babies! But then fast forward 19 weeks to the most difficult experience in my journey as a mom....losing our girl Rose Caroline. Once June Catherine, her surviving twin sister arrived time still didn't stand still. We were in NICU, then seeing specialists and getting hearing devices etc...Then she turned one. She was healthy and safe and wonderful. But she was a twinless twin and always would be. CMV had taken her sister from us.....I finally talked to a therapist for the first time in my life....

Then the world shut down. All of a sudden I was teaching middle school math from home with two kids on my lap in the middle of a pandemic. Photography quickly became my therapy. Josh eventually signed me up for classes and it felt so good to take a class just because I wanted to! So I masked up and went every week after a long day of hybrid teaching.

I reached out to a friend to create the perfect logo and here I am! The purple butterfly perched on that camera is special, as it is the symbol for twin loss.

When I say I put my heart into this I truly mean it....this was never something I planned to do but God has taken me on paths I never thought I'd travel. And my dream is that someday I'll be able to give back through the National CMV Foundation, local NICUs...anyway I can!