jordan

You only need to take an look at the ice and snow and barren trees to know this is not a recent shoot. Golden warm sun shining; no need to be buried under layers, etc, etc... I'm yearning for those days again.  I thought I'd take a moment to reflect on them by blogging about this senior session I photographed late in September. 

I had never met Jordan before, which would not be odd at all if I hadn't known his mother the vast majority of my life. 

His mom Pam and I were childhood friends; neighbor kids back in good old Rochester, MN, and we didn't necessarily have a ton in common. She was very athletic, always great at every sport, and I was; well... NOT.  During school days, I actually hardly remember talking to her at all.  She was one year my senior and we didn't really hang in the same groups.  It was never malicious, of course; we always had good feelings for each other and were always happy to bump into one another in the hallways. Summers were ours.  I have so many fun memories of sleepovers and listening and dancing to her parents' 50's vinyl and Pat Benatar cassette tapes on an old stereo. We spent countless days at the public pool. (She always left looking like a bronzed goddess and I always more closely resembled a boiled lobster.) We played tons of games of Chinese Checkers and tried to decipher the secret messages we "wrote" on eachothers' backs with our fingers.   The point is, when I think back on my childhood, Pam's usually there. 

I've only gotten to see her a couple times since I graduated from college.  After that my parents moved to Wisconsin. She stays off of social media so I only get to hear a tiny bit about her from time to time when her younger sister Dawn shares tidbits of information.  Our parents are still close, so I have been able to keep up big things that have happened in her life, if only in small ways.

Thanks to Dawn, Pam learned I was a photographer when the two of them went to lunch and Pam mentioned she needed to hire someone to take her son Jordan's senior photos.  It was so crazy and exciting to hear her voice on the phone when she called -- Same Pam I remembered; always laughing and happy; and we don't live far apart, either! 

Imagine how surreal it was for me to meet this young man, Jordan, for the first time. I was not surprised that he was so polite, OR athletic, OR handsome, for that matter.  (Pam had told me on the phone that he would be awkward, so I felt quite relieved to learn that he was very much the opposite!)

There is a good chance that Jordan MIGHT not have gotten the same personal attention I usually give my senior clients.  (I don't think he minded.)  It was a momentous occasion to see Pam and meet her son, and she I had a great time catching up during the session. Toward the end she went and grabbed a bottle of wine and some glasses out of her car.  

We sat and drank it with her husband during an amazing sunset at the park after I wrapped up the session.