Where I’ve been

“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose; all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.”
~ Helen Keller

Dear Friend,

I’m in a season of my life where grief seems to be a main theme.

I lost my mom in June of 2024, after caring for her through her last months. She was my last parent. Then I had to sell the house I grew up in, her home for 35 years. In October 2025, my oldest brother died in a car accident.

My mom, my brother, and me at the 40 Over 40 exhibit, March 2023.

This July, I did the mammogram I’d been putting off. They found a lump, and I found out I have breast cancer. I’m recovering from my lumpectomy, and next comes radiation, three weeks of daily treatments. I’m building my strength back up as I go.

There have been many setbacks. There have also been silver linings: stronger relationships, and a perspective on life I’ve honestly never had before. I know some of you are in this season too.

I’ve had a reckoning with God. I asked Him: wasn’t it enough? What I came away with is that God is shaping me into someone with more understanding for the women I serve.

I’ve also been facing my own thoughts about aging, watching my body change and asking whether I practice what I preach: seeing myself the way I see the women I photograph. Of course, it helps that I have a supportive partner, one I never had in the past. I knew this would be a test of our relationship, and it has only gotten stronger.

I’ve come to realize I’m not here to tell you I’ve arrived, or to coach you into a better version of yourself. I’m someone who walks alongside you and feels the things you feel, still discovering what is true, what is beautiful, who I am, and what I’m here for.

All this time, photographing women and looking for beauty and light and magic and hope, I was on a journey to find myself. And finding yourself isn’t selfish. It’s tied directly to your purpose.

Through all of it, I kept the studio open and kept photographing, just a lot less, but enough to remember that this was the gift I was meant to share with the world, always worth fighting for. This is where my heart is, and it’s where I’m staying.

I’ll be writing letters like this now and then: what I’m making, what I’m finding, and what I’m learning in this season of life. If you’d like them in your inbox, you can subscribe below.

With love,