This past weekend I got to spend time with a friend I miss dearly. Sara and I were new teachers the at the same time, finding our way together though the stress, the joys, and the challenges of that first year. We very quickly discovered our lives seemed to intersect regularly: adopting adorable kitties the same year, buying new cars at the same time, purchasing our first homes during the same summer and within 2 miles of one another, and both getting married in July of 2006.
We were amazingly compatible, had weekly coffee dates, and over the course of 4 years grew quite a special friendship and bond. Then, two years ago our lives diverged and I felt lost without her here. A new job for her husband Sean took them cross country to sunny San Diego California, just about as far as you can get from the east coast. Our friendship is still as strong as ever but now it unfortunately sustains itself on email, Facebook, the monthly phone call, and the occasional trip home to visit family.
In October, the exciting news was publicized that her and Sean were expecting their first child! I was bummed that with Sara and Sean in San Diego I’d miss out on seeing her throughout the pregnancy and not be able to share in such an exciting time with such a good friend. Fortunately, the holidays brought them back east to visit family and they threw her a lovely baby shower in Richmond, VA last weekend where I got to capture some beautiful images of her special day.
Thank you Sara for including me in the festivities. I so miss our time together and really hope life brings you guys back east soon. I am incredibly excited for you and Sean and can’t wait to meet the little “McNugget” when she arrives!
