Contest submission #13: Aviendha and her family

"Three times Jess has graced my home to capture the light of my child.

Once as a tiny infant barely strong enough to lift her own head. Jess captured both her minuteness and (to my surprise) the softness of new motherhood.

Once as a toddler celebrating her first year, gleefully charging down the driveway on her own two feet. Jess captured this glee and (to my dismay) the evidence of our broken marriage, two proud parents sitting awkwardly together for a family photo.

Once as a two year old, in charge of herself and the world. Jess captured her independence and (to my extreme delight) the reminder that our broken marriage is not broken but a new kind of family: with new form, texture, and solidity. A family shaped differently than most, to be sure, but a family nonetheless, with parents and child loving each other deeply, spread out across multiple homes, and welcoming new people into the circle we call family.

It is with a joyfully bursting heart that I look at this, one of my favorites, of the three of us. Because Jess unwittingly tracked not just the growth of our child, but the growth of a family into what it is today: happy.

-SerahRose"

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