After 14 years of locking down what my clients love most in life, so many clients have become like part of my extended family. What a wonderful surprise blessing to this career! However, when my actual family commissions me to create portraits for them…that’s the sweetest and highest compliment!
When I look at the L family I am blown away by the abounding love and laughter that spills forth from their home. The Lord has given me eyes to see the story in life…everywhere I go I see stories unfolding. And oh, so much more when I’ve known the people I am creating for for most or all of their lives. The L family is my rock star sister-in-law Tracie, her sweet husband Matt and their 4 treasures, Camden, Tessa, Collins and Fitz.
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(Sherwood is a family name so the shot tower was a must to include as we created. Also Tracie’s much beloved Dad, aka our Poppy, passed away in 2020 and he was a postal carrier till he retired.)
I’ve known Tracie for most of her life. She and I started as friends when her brother and I were dating and she was just 12 and I was 16. I remember random summer afternoons when we’d try to catch a soap opera on the tiny kitchen counter tv while we had lunch. Why? I have no idea-but it sure seemed to generate a fair amount of discussion between us!
I remember us laying on the deck of their above ground swimming pool, with books in hand, with Orioles playing on the radio while Poppy lathered up in baby oil to bring on his Italian color. We luxuriated in the random times we all had days off of work simultaneously in the summer, which wasn’t often, but was a blast when we did. Grandy always had a pot of delicious shrimp creole simmering in the background.
As years progressed we were in each other’s weddings. We launched careers and had significant career changes as we started growing our families. We had our babies and have been raising them together over the last 2 decades. The number of shared precious, hilarious, and heart breaking memories over the last 35 years are precious jewels to me.
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So this one is special for me. The last time we did family portraits for the L family was at the birth of Fitz. We rarely have time in our booking calendar for family portraits anymore, but those that we do are always special to us at JDP for many reasons.
Matt and Tracie have felt life racing at a sprinters pace as their kids just keep getting bigger and bigger. They have intended to create family portraits for a while now, but something kept coming up as it does with a family of 6. But, they persisted and moved heaven and earth to make this portrait time happen complete with awesome coordinating wardrobe changes! All the mothers out there can appreciate the Herculean feat that was for a busy family of 6! Kudos Mama!
A lifetime ago I taught History and Psychology so I’m guessing that contributes to why I feel compelled to lock down all that is endearing for families, especially mothers, who so often are missing in the family’s photo history. When Tracie watched her movie reveal at her view and choose there was a segment where Camden reached out to Tess to give her a hand getting up. “That might be my favorite moment right there,” she said. My job is to set the stage and be like a hawk watching for what reveals the tender bonds.
Camden has just started his sophomore year and he is pursuing an engineering degree (taking after his mother) and playing soccer (taking after his father). His absence was sorely felt this last year when he left, especially by little Fitz who adores his big brother.
Fitz got one of Camden’s senior portraits we created that was sitting out in the house and brought it up to his room to sit on his nightstand. Oh how those little finds warm a momma and daddy’s heart!
These 4 are the world to Matt and Tracie and so many others! They each bring a unique blending of all the love and devotion that’s been poured into them. One consistent theme is this whole family’s love of sports! If you need to find anyone in the L family, it’ll probably be on a field somewhere playing, coaching or rooting on a team! Both Matt and Tracie were D1 athletes at University of MD so it’s a beautiful thing to see all their children enjoy it so much as well!
Tessa, who blog followers will see next year as one of our JDP seniors for the class of 2025, is about to be a junior in highschool. She’s introspective, creative and a phenomenal athlete. She plays attack on her school lacrosse team and club team as well. She also runs Cross Country for her highschool as well. When her and Collins were younger we used to design dresses together and create plot lines for the dolls we were adorning.
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Collins is a bubble of joy and laughter who loves exploring life. Here Daddy is her King and she’s his princess. We still design dresses together and grab a Junie B. Jones book at family parties to laugh at Junie B.’s antics. Collins plays rec and club field hockey indoor and outdoor. She also plays club lacrosse.
Years ago we created mama baby portraits of Collins and Tracie out in the wildflowers that still warm my heart. So how ironic that this segment came about naturally when Fitz picked a flower for his mama. All the feels for moments like this that you never want to forget in life!
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When Fitz was born we created the L family newborn portraits in their home. While Matt and Tracie were selecting their picks from this session, her memory was harkened back to one from the newborn session. I love these nuggets!
Fitz and Camden have shared a love of soccer since Fitz could walk. I literally do not remember a time that Fitz didn’t have a ball at his feet, moving through the house. This kid has skills! He weaves through the field like melted butter with no prayer of being stopped! He plays club soccer and rec basketball.
Matt’s the shoe guy for the family and he’s passed on his love to Fitz as well. Recently Fitz informed me that when he gets his driver’s license he’s going to go to the Nike store everyday to build his Nike collection. Most will not be for wearing outside!
Anyone raising a family knows the joy and stresses that brings, most often very intermingled. When children are involved in multiple activities and there’s a demanding career that includes travel, it would be really easy for the marriage to take a back seat and begin to crumble. But Tracie and Matt have been very proactive about building into one another and keeping the spark alive.
It was a sweet way to end our family portrait extravaganza…celebrating the love that created their home filled with family and friends making memories over board games, pool parties, Ravens games, movie nights, pitch, cornhole, poker, pool, shuffleboard, table tennis, and karaoke!
It’s commonplace around the L family home for Matt and Tracie to gross out their kids with their affection…what a blessing to be raised under that mantle of devoted and committed marital love!
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Matt and Tracie you will always be 20 something in my eyes and not just because you both seem to be defying aging! You did it–the sweetness, tenderness and joy is locked down! I imagine us all old and gray looking back over the collections that make us weep tears of joy and saying, “thank You Lord for all Your incredible blessing!”
