It’s my daughter’s 15th birthday today. Fifteen. For some reason that number, that many years, takes my breath away. My daughters’ birthdays have always felt like that for me, that despite the milestone, the celebration, the birthday wishes, there is the elephant in the room that I never want to look in the eye — the enormous and sad, lumbering reminder that the days are passing quickly and my children are really, truly growing up. Sure, you know it when they turn 2 or 4 or 6. But when they turn 15? That’s when that elephant moves from the middle of the room and sits down right down on your chest, knocking the wind right out of you. There’s no escaping the weight of how it feels now. It’s just really really heavy.
To help sweeten up the bittersweet emotions I’m grappling with, I am choosing to celebrate the milestone of 15 with a photographic story of what 14 looked like around here. I’ll admit, it was pretty awesome. This small series is a tribute to my daughter, myself, and to all the mothers of teenagers. We’ve hit the big time. Happy birthday!
Images via Tracey Clark
# 1 - Reflecting
#2 - Playing
#3 - Expressing Herself
#4 - Experiencing Firsts
#5 - Embracing Awkward
#6 - Maturing
#7 - Glowing
