It's finally here. Senior year. And I don't mean finally as in I couldn't wait for it to get here. I mean finally as in I've been not wanting to rush it and it came anyway. Mallory, our youngest will be graduating with the Class of 2013 from Winder Barrow High School like her sister before her in 2009 and her daddy in 1979. They are double 'G' Doggs, they bleed red and black and I suppose I do too. Not because I graduated from there but from long association of football and basketball games, swim competitions and many cheerleading events we have worked. Mallory's senior year will be a fantastic one with lots of memories to be made. Recently I was talking with a good friend who was telling me that she accompanied her mother to a reunion with some of her high school friends. She said it was amazing to see these ladies in their seventies revert back to 17 again as they laughed and remembered old boyfriends, football games and high school rivals. High school is a once in a lifetime event that never leaves us. Despite where you go and what you do, you are never 17 again and a senior in high school.
I am always saddened when I hear about kids who put off their senior portraits or don't have them done at all. For us this is a big event. I know what you're thinking. Of course it's a big event for them, they do this for a living. That's probably why I am so passionate about my kids getting their senior portraits done; done right and then proudly hang them in our home. This weekend and next week Mallory will be getting her portraits done. We have been planning and preparing for this since November. I cannot wait to hang her on our family wall with her sister, Leslie's, senior portraits. There is not a day that goes by that I don't walk down my hall and look at those beautiful portraits of Leslie and remember her senior year and what fun we had during that time. That was her, that's how she was then.
Please don't put this off for your child. Make the effort, spend a little more to get good quality portraits done right. This summer is the perfect time while they have time off from school. You think you have all year but really, once school starts, the time flies and before you know it, it's spring and guess what? Your senior has moved on in their mind and they are in college or work mode and your trying to squeeze it in last minute. . Senior year doesn't matter anymore. You've missed it. The next time they are photographed will be at their wedding and it's not really all about them. Think it's not important to you? Ask yourself what's the first thing you would grab, besides your family members, if your house was to flood or burn? All of my clients tell me it would be their portraits.
Senior year is a milestone event marking a time in your child's life that they or you won't ever live again. Enjoy this time to the fullest. Have these memories captured forever so you can enjoy them for years to come. Walk down your hall, into your living room or den and cherish that child on your wall who has grown up in the blink of an eye. They've done what we've raised them to do. They've grown up, made us laugh, cry, angered us at times and made us most proud in the end. Let's honor them with great memories. I know that's our plan for Mallory.
Mallory, Class of 2013
