02/27/2024
I’ve been taking photos of her for 15 years now, my beautiful brown eyed girl. Leah is full of happiness 95% of the time. When we’re together we often laugh so hard we’re both crying. The other 5% of her usually shows up when she’s overly tired and then suddenly every single thing she could ever worry about weighs down on her at once.
I’ve told her many times how grateful I am she’s my oldest girl, because she’s set a tone for her sisters I wish everyone could have. She’s never been competitive, bossy or cruel, and doesn’t come from a place of insecurity that needs to put them down. Instead she’s creative and imaginative, funny and inclusive. She cheers the other two on and in turn they’re her biggest hype girls.
She can be spacey and forgetful and lose track of time, and during the rare moments she gets mad, I try really hard to take her seriously but we both usually end up laughing. She’s honest and hardworking, doesn’t like contention or drama, and doesn’t really understand why anyone would choose to be manipulative or mean. She feels deeply and loves easily, but keeps a lot of that to herself until trust has been earned. She sees the best in others and can be really shy. She doesn’t love the spotlight but has been pushing to allow herself to be seen.
This last year rocked her a bit, physically and emotionally, and I worried about her last fall when it all seemed to pile on at once. But because of who she is, she overcame the challenges and just keeps getting better. She started track this week, and is determined to get her knee back to what it once was. This weekend she’ll perform in front of judges, singing solos and group numbers. She has straight A’s and loves to draw, spend time with friends, record music and looooves going shopping.
She makes the world more magical because she’s in it. How lucky we are to get to love her and be loved by her. I can’t wait to see what this year holds. Happy birthday, Leah Layne 🩵✨
Dress: from my client closet
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