I was near the middle of my first pregnancy – a naive young mama-to-be – unexpectedly off work due to some early pregnancy complications. We had only one car back then, and not much money.  Stuck at home alone all day, I was going out of my mind with boredom.  In desperation I searched for a local mothers group and called to ask if I could attend meetings before I was officially a mother.

I remember standing outside the meeting location, my still small belly hidden inside denim overall maternity shorts* and a baggy stripped t-shirt. I felt conspicuous, unencumbered by diaper bag and sippy cup and  stroller, vulnerable without the visible trappings of motherhood to connect me to the women around me.   I was nervous that they mothers would think that joining a moms group without a child was, at best, slightly suspect.

Sue was one of the first to talk to me.  I remember cooing over the cherubic blonde baby girl riding in the carrier on her back,   amazed that I would soon be entrusted with the care of one of those little beings.  She and the other ladies immediately made me feel welcome and became part of the fabric of my daily life over my first few years  of motherhood.

Fast forward almost a decade; through a few more children, cross town moves and the growing apart that occurs when life takes you in different directions…I saw and heard of Sue occasionally through mutual friends, but our paths didn’t often cross.

Then came Facebook.

I reconnected with Sue (and several of the other women I met that first fateful day at the mom’s club) and was so excited when she asked me to take her family photos.  When I was discussing my photographic style with Sue prior to the session, I talked about how this wouldn’t be like photo sessions they might have had in the past.  I wouldn’t pose them stiffly or ask anyone to say cheese.  I warned her we might get really, really silly, and that my aim was to capture them as they really are.  These won’t, I said, be traditional images.

And her reply?

“That’s why you got the job”

I knew right then that we were going to have a whole lot of fun.

We met up early one morning at Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix, and it was so lovely to get reacquainted with her family.  Mary, that little blonde cherub, all grown up – oodles of sweet mixed with just the right dose of silly.  The 7 year old twins (whose birth when Mary was a year and a half old elevated Sue to heroic mother status in my eyes); Katie, with her super stylish (and self-inflicted) pixie haircut and brilliantly goofy energy,  and Bobby – a darling little man of shyness and intensity.   Sue and her husband Bob, who honestly, have not appeared to change a bit in the several years since I’d last seen them – chill, sarcastic and up for anything.

Heck yeah, we had fun!

*{ yes, I rocked those denim overall shorts, how could you ever think overwise}.