I’m sitting here enjoying yet another morning on the porch with my coffee looking at the ocean thinking how grateful I am that we get to do this. And it’s not a gratitude that has me needing to thank someone for providing it. It’s a gratitude for the life we have built that allows us to do this.
Henny and I first started dreaming about this over the winter. Making a big summer change. Our kids have been on the swim team for 4 years and have loved it. The pool is our summer family. Hell, I’m even on the Board. But we couldn’t let it go. Knowing that the older they get, the busier their summers will be. He’s a baseball dude, she’s a lacrosse lover and they both really enjoy swim. So our opportunities to drop off are numbered, for certain.
So we researched and it was daunting. The money was bigger than we were prepared for but I couldn’t stop wanting it. Determined to make this a reality, I told Henny that I would pay for it. Now, there’s no “I” in our marriage or in how we manage our money. But I said that I would work for the money to pay for this time away. It would come straight from the Kelly Hennigan Photography bank account. And it did.
Through months of some lull in the pipeline (happens every year) to the months spent working through the pain from a herniated disk and a stress fracture in my hip. My doctor, and dear friend Trina, got very tired of hearing me say “you have to heal me. I have work I can’t miss.” And no matter how badly I felt, I didn’t miss any of it. Because I had a goal.
So…I’m grateful. For the life we have built. For the hard work that has paid off. And for the people who have trusted me to capture the images for their businesses and the memories for the families. Because without them, I wouldn’t be able to make these memories for mine.
