Milestones…
Posted on 16. Aug, 2016 by Cansler Photography in Children, Portraits
They come and go these milestones; quicker as I get older. Before my daughter started school, birthdays were major milestones. Or events, like feeding herself, her first steps, picking out her own clothes (that was interesting sometimes), learning to snow ski, and taking ballet. These moments were huge. Once school started, then it seemed like the beginning of the school year became that time when I was always a little melancholy as it marked the passage of another year gone by. 
Don’t get me wrong, I loved all the time spent during each of those years. There were always changes and something new that she was in love with. It was exciting to hear her tell about her day and what she did at school, or how much she didn’t like the homework, or how she played on the tire swing at recess (an all time favorite activity). All the while, she was changing and growing into an independent young lady. 
At the time, it didn’t seem so dramatic. Each year, she was just a little older, a little taller, hair a little different, a larger vocabulary but at the beginning of Kindergarten, like most moms, leaving her in class that first morning was dreadful for me. She, on the other hand, was happy as a clam. Then, before I knew it, she was starting third grade. I think that’s when it really hit me that the moments had become days and the days had turned into years. Suddenly, she graduated from elementary school and there we were, already her first day of middle school. That memory came up on my Facebook last week.
My dad tried to warn me. He told me when she was born that I would remember time as four major events – birth, kindergarten, graduation, and marriage. He assured me it would happen just that fast. You know how parents are almost always right… well he was definitely right. We haven’t made it to the last two milestones yet, but when I look back, it seems like everything is a blur. 
All I can say is thank heaven that I have Brad to photograph all the moments in-between, portraits that keep reminding me of these memories. Life is truly a collection of the moments that matter.
Helen Cansler
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