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Why Right Now

The last day my children attended school this year was March 13. My husband started working from home the week before that. And throughout the roughly 11 weeks since then, we’ve mostly been at home, all together. We’ve had small bits of alone time–trips to the grocery store, walks around the block, bike rides, a solo sit in the backyard–but it’s probably the most time we’ve spent all together EVER.

And yes, we’re a bit sick of each other. But at the same time we’re totally not. As the primary caretaker of our children, I am really tired of putting together snacks and meals, finding socks, determining how much screen time is too much screen time and on and on…

But on the other hand, I have had the incredible luxury of spending an amazing amount of unstructured time with my kids. We’ve made art, read stories, watched movies, done online yoga and every other thing possible to entertain us. We’ve taken lots of hikes, made special trips to the coffee drive-thru, played game after after game. And a lot of that has been quiet, beautiful time together that I would not have had with them if not for the need to stay at home.

My husband has found unexpected benefits in this new reality, too. His “commute” to work is just up the stairs. He can join me and my daughters to eat lunch. My girls can give him hugs during his meetings. If he’d never had to work at home, he never would have discovered these beautiful bonuses of doing so.

But, of course, none of this is to say that I’m happy that this has happened. I’m scared about getting sick. I’m scared about my loved ones getting sick. I read the news sparingly and with a sense of dread and anxiety that grows deeper and stronger the more I read. And I truly cannot imagine the grief and despair that many are suffering right now as they are much more impacted by this pandemic than I am. I see and feel my privilege so clearly and it isn’t right.

However, throughout this time I’ve found myself turning inward to the core of what matters in my life–my family. And the sudden cessation of most activities outside our home quickly made it abundantly clear that they are exactly what mean the most to me. Despite the very real difficulties of this time in life, I think that we all feel closer to one another than we did before. And even though I’m sure we all would much rather have learned this lesson in a different way, this is what we’ve got and I’m trying to take what good I can from it.

And maybe, just maybe you feel the same way. There is a certain clarity that comes with crisis, I believe, and maybe you’ve had some of the same realizations about your family that I’ve had about mine during these past few months. I’ve been trying to take pictures of our daily life throughout this to remember this moment in our shared story and I’d love to help you do the same.

What You Need to Know

In this spirit, I’m excited to offer a set of limited edition “social distancing” sessions. Let’s get together, take some photos and freeze this incredibly unique time in life for posterity. Here are all the details you need to know to book:

• All sessions will take place outdoors and I will ensure that appropriate social distancing is maintained throughout our time together
• Sessions will last 30 minutes
• Sessions include 20 digital images, chosen by you from a larger proofing gallery
• Additional digital images and print products will be available to purchase from your proofing gallery
• The total cost of each is $450 (+ tax) and the total fee is due at the time of booking
• You can see available session times and book your session by heading here