I’ve known Gavin from when he was around eight months old. I went from looking down on him running around in the grass to looking up at him, because he was always climbing trees. When his favorite climbing tree had to be removed and he spent more time on the ground, I found out that I still had to look up at him because he had grown huge in the meantime. His mother used to marvel at his voracious appetite, as he could put away a 1200 calorie Chipotle burrito by kindergarten. She put him to work in the kitchen early, learning to cook on the stove top from around age nine so he could learn to feed himself. Today, he is a responsible and resourceful young man, working many hours to afford his passion of learning to fly. We did his photos in his own yard, as he has spent his childhood there kicking a soccer ball and exploring the creek.

The last one is my favorite. It reminds me of all the times I would hear his voice coming from above me as I passed under his tree, or the times his sneakers and legs would drop out of the leaves with the rest of the boy following after. I’m glad to see that some of that little boy spirit still resides in the tall, capable young man he’s become.

Senior photos in the yard