An Elizabethtown, PA Fall Family Session | The Cobaugh Family 11.16.19
Parenting is the hardest thing we will ever do. Period. You can argue with me all you want. You may say X, Y, Z is more difficult but I stand firm. The difference with parenting to other difficult life situations is that inside each of your children is a piece of your own heart that lives forever in theirs. Whether or not you made that child yourself does not matter. It happens the moment you decide to take on the responsibility of raising that child. When your child’s heart aches, so does yours. This makes sense because they are partly the same. We watch our children get frustrated and upset, feel pain and fall. They cry and suffer….and learn. It is the learning that makes the pain of watching it happen as a parent more manageable. We know that it is the pain of our lives that forces us to grow and we want that for our children. We hold their pain in our hearts and stand by them. We let them know they are not alone in this world…that we understand. We might not be able to take the pain or frustration away but we will be there for them as they figure it out. We willingly go through the pains we have already felt growing up again…with them. We can’t do it for them, even though it would be less painful all around, because deep down we know that from pain comes progress. And we want our children to progress. That is hard.
Little Declan here just turned two and is in full on learning mode. He wanted to play with sticks, run, touch the stream and he wanted to do it ALL BY HIMSELF. Last year he wasn’t quite walking yet so we were able to sit him in a chair and carry him around with no problem. This year, he didn’t want to hold hands, sit in a chair or be held…so we followed him around…and watched him learn. There were moments when he would cry and I could see Gretchen and Matthew in pain, wishing they could make it better for him. They wrapped him up crying at times as he kicked and hit in frustration…as all 2-year-olds do and I saw so much beauty in those moments. Those moments might not be laughter and joy, but they are beautiful. They are the moments of pure unconditional love that a parent has for his or her child.
Luckily, my sessions are LONG for that reason. We had PLENTY of time to find something that Declan could do safely and enjoy….LEAVES! I got to watch Declan play with his parents in his first EVER pile of fall leaves and it was glorious! I may have even run through the leaves a few times myself. And, in the end, he let his Momma wrap him up and kiss his cold little fingers. It was perfection.
Gretchen and Matthew, I am so happy you came back this year again. It’s really neat to watch your little cutie grow up with you over the years. Thank you for your willingness to face the cold temperatures to get a session in this year. These precious moments really do go by so fast. You are both amazing parents and I am so honored to be your photographer. I hope you love this little sample of photos from your session. And, because I know how hard it is to wait, there are a few surprises in your inbox RIGHT NOW so go check!!! XO - Megan
