my gracie.

I've written about this girl more times than I can count, yet I'll never run out of words to say. Things like, how she'll cuddle a crying kiddo and read him a story in a blink of an eye, or how she'll sometimes clean the kitchen from top to bottom, spic and span, without being asked. Her nose wrinkles when she laughs -- really laughs -- and she sometimes wears a robe to bed because she's chilly. Her favorite food is chili and she loves candy and she has the best memory of any of us. One of her biggest problems is deciding whether or not she wants to be a pastry chef or a lawyer when she grows up. Grace is blunt and literal and analytical with a sensible romantic heart (is that a thing? because she has it) and she's one of the smartest, cleverest, funniest people I know. Grace is strong and a fighter, and she loves deeply. She's my baby and I'm the only one who can get away with calling her Gracie. I love her lots and lots.

This is important to me. Taking photos of people I love. Shooting them as they are. When I am old and wrinkled, I want to look back with my sixteen year old eyes at my little Gracie girl. Smooth the yellowed pictures, gently go through the stack of photos, one by one, and remember one of the many times we took photos, just because.

This is Gracie. My little Grace who's not so little anymore.