You always know the day will come. It sits there, lurking somewhere in the back of your head feeling far away and somehow impossible. From the moment you see the first ultrasound … you know your job is to raise this tiny little human into someone who will go out into the world. You do the diaper thing, the go to bed routine, the first day of school, good grades, bad grades, shaving, driving and a million other things that follow the list of milestones.  Milestones that subtly tell you time is passing and they’re on to the next thing. You should have been keeping track but you weren’t. Now?  Suddenly you’re here. With your firstborn mere months from turning eighteen and only a handful more from graduating high school.  Which means they’ll be leaving soon. On their way out into the world beyond. The one you spent every day of the last 19 years preparing to send them off into.

I’m not ready.

But I think he might be. My son .. Adam Wirth … 2018 Graduating Senior.

It’s no secret I love all things New York. It’s where I grew up and it will always be home for me. That is something that has trickled down to my children. This summer we spent a month in NY and Adam came for a few days. When you grow into a young man, apparently you find yourself doing all kinds of awesome things. This summer he has been writing & directing a musical with friends that will be performed this fall at his high school. He wants to act and sing and do all kinds of great things. Which is awesome … but it also meant that while his brother and I were photographing people, visiting family and eating yummy food … he was at home Snapchatting our cat and working hard on the musical. When he did finally get away for the family reunion, I promised him we’d get some photos in New York as part of his senior portraits. After all, when your mom is the photographer, every picture she takes your senior year … is a senior portrait.

I have to say it because this picture makes me tear up every time. I used to play on this playground as a little kid. Every time we headed to the Bronx to visit my aunt, we’d look at my mom for approval and with a nod of her head … rush from the ferry terminal into Battery Park to play for a few minutes before we would head to catch the train. So when we were headed back to the ferry terminal and my boys looked at me for approval, and I nodded my head … watching them rush into this same park put a lump in my throat. I stood there, next to my mom, camera raised …

“Do you remember …”

“Yea …”