09/12/2026
25 years ago, I was 17 years old.
Twenty-five years ago, 9/11 happened. I remember exactly where I was, but somehow that girl feels like a lifetime ago.
And tonight, I’m sitting at IU, watching college kids walk around campus, and I can’t help but think about how little they know about all the lifetimes they have ahead of them.
Because that’s the thing about life… you can live so many different lives without ever actually leaving the one you’re in.
Since I was 17, I’ve been a wife for 8 years. I’ve become a mom. I’ve built a photography business. I’ve learned how to run a business, raise kids, love people, lose people, start over, grow up, and become someone I never could have imagined back then.
And photography itself has been a lifetime.
These two photos are lifetimes apart.
Not just in years, but in everything I’ve learned between them.
A lifetime of learning light.
A lifetime of learning my camera.
A lifetime of learning composition.
A lifetime of learning how to see.
A lifetime of learning how to work with people.
A lifetime of mistakes, practice, creativity, confidence, and growth.
Looking at these two images tonight made me realize just how much can happen in what feels like no time at all.
Those college kids I’m watching tonight have no idea how many versions of themselves they are about to become.
And honestly, neither did I at 17.
Maybe that’s the beautiful part.
You don't know the lives you're going to live until you're living them.
So tonight, 25 years after 9/11, I'm thinking about time. About the people we were. The people we've become. And all the lifetimes still ahead of us.
Never stop growing into the next version of yourself.