Worth a Thousand Words

That's me, circa. 1988!

I met Kristine Pringle a few months after I started my "journey".  She had documented the McIntire Park Fireworks on the 4th of July for the Newsplex and subsequently appeared as a guest on C'ville Plugged In with me.  I was in awe of how she captured not just the beauty of that event, but also the feelings surrounding it.  After the segment I made a plan to contact her in the fall, when I'd hoped to have lost "a few pounds" (like 40).  

For years I've put off getting family photos taken because of my weight. Documenting it  would've forced me to accept it.  Denial was much easier.  I coveted, however,  the beautiful family portraits my friends had covering their walls, and knew I was depriving my children of years of laughter in their adulthood (the hair in that pic above was cool when the photo was taken, I swear.) by not getting them done.  I made that vow that every overweight person makes -  I'd do them "once I lost weight".

September came and went and I found myself only at -20. I had planned to use these photos for our Christmas cards, but was I really ready to show 150 of our "closest" friends what I beast I still was?  Not really, but I decided I'd trade my pride for the beauty of a Charlottesville fall and gave Kristine a call.

You will see from the photos below that Kristine has mad photography skills. Sadly, however,  I still found it hard to look at myself.  I immediately started picking apart my flaws and was mad at myself for not losing more weight.  I hate that.  

The longer I looked, however, the more credit I began to give to myself.  I've come a long way from the fat girl, sleeping on a lawn chair on the beach last spring.  Once I recognized that, calmed down and added "be kinder to myself" to my growing list of New Year's Resolutions I saw just how beautiful these photos are.   Even more importantly than that, however, was how Kristine managed to really capture who we are - even though she barely knew us.  That's talent, people, pure talent.

We did what Kristine calls a "countrypolitan" shoot - 

Urban shots downtown Charlottesville...

...and a little country at Jefferson Vineyards. 

(And yes, we drank a bottle of Viognier during the shoot)

Goofy picture of me, but I love that we are running together!

 

Can you believe this is my baby?

Messy hair, playing in the grass, absolutely beautiful...

SO Maggie.

And this, of course, is my favorite.

You can see more of our photo session with Kristine, as well as other examples of her talent at http://www.pringleblog.com.