free spirit photography | St.Thomas Ontario Photographer

"I thought about leaving something behind...something for my children and grandchildren to remember me by. Journals begun and forgotten - how does a mother of three find time to keep them up anyways? Then it occurred to me. My photographs speak of me, they are words unspoken, voices and emotion. They are my legacy, and they will be the testament of my life..as a mother, a sister, a daughter, a granddaughter, a friend. A tribute to the lives of those who touched me most, to those I have lost but who are alive in my heart. A tribute to life, and capturing the spirit of love in every respect. My photographs speak the volumes of my soul."

A tribute to my sons ~ Quentin, Harley & Blythe.

I glance over at my sons and words escape me. Are there words that would accurately describe the amount of gratitude I feel towards these three beautiful boys I call my own? Through the roughest patches of life, they have been my comfort, my definition of 'home'. And what makes it so amazing to me is their innocence. They know how much I love them I'm sure - for them, I wear my heart on my sleeve and not a day goes by where I don't tell them how much they are loved. But to understand the feeling I get when I look at them - in fascination, in appreciation - only after becoming fathers someday will they ever comprehend.

Quentin wrote a list of 'thank yous' to me not so long ago. The last on the list was, "And final thank you for making all your decisions based on us." As a single mother, that meant more to me than he can imagine. Life will always have its' twists and turns, and we have experienced our share. But it was experienced together, and knowing that every decision I made was always ALWAYS based on their happiness, I carried forward. So what can I say about our relationship with each other as a result of it? Well, we laugh together, we shed tears together. We hold hands in silence, we have a communication level second to none. We are happy. We are comfortable and proud of who we are as a family. We are strong.

And so I grabbed my camera one beautiful summer evening, when I saw the golden light was perfect. Perfect light for my perfect boys. We travelled about five minutes to a country meadow we love. And I celebrated them. Their giggles, their smiles, their round eyes, and closeness as brothers. We sang, we told jokes, we watched the sun go down. And through it all, my heart burst with joy...