This week I had the best time catching up with and photographing my beautiful (inside and out) cousin, Madison. She is about to graduate from West Chester University and our entire family is SO excited for her!
On my drive to West Chester, I was reminiscing about my own college graduation. I then realized that I graduated college before Madison was born! OMG. How is that possible?!?!?
Anyway, we were not the only ones with the idea to have photographs taken that day! There were swarms of photographers and excited graduates in short white dresses, graduation gowns and so many bottles of champagne. We patiently waited our turn for quite a few of the popular locations.
Walking the beautiful WCU campus made me realize how very different my college experience was from Madison’s. In 2002, Tyler School of Art was a quaint school full of quirky and eccentric artists. Our clothes were splattered with paint and our hands were calloused from sculpting. Every turn was another surprise with things like full room yarn installations or a student practicing performance by sitting on a chair, unmoving, for many hours while holding a leash attached to a dead squirrel or, my personal favorite (I think my dad’s too as he picked me up that day and couldn’t look away), naked slip and slide on the grass. True stories!!
ANYWAY, back to Madison…. Madison has accomplished and overcome, with so much grace, some extremely difficult times in the past few years. When my Uncle Tom, Madison’s dad, died very suddenly in 2022, our entire family was devastated. There is yet another empty seat at our family dinners and, well, it really really sucks. He was SUCH a proud dad and absolutely adored Madison. Uncle Tom was the easiest going person you would ever meet. He was extremely laid back and always smiling. Madison tells me that he never once yelled. Ever. As a parent that tries my very hardest to be patient and calm (and have failed many, many times), to have never yelled once is an unbelievably amazing feat!
My Uncle Tom definitely lived life to the fullest and he would absolutely want us to continue on and embrace the good times. Madison, your dad is SO very proud of you!!! I can’t wait to celebrate this accomplishment with you with one last big party at your house. Cheers to your next big adventure!! I can not wait to see where you go next!
Don’t you just love these orbs surrounding Madison in these next pics?
