All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.  ~Abraham Lincoln My mother's birthday is today. It's not a milestone birthday of any kind, but I asked her if she'd mind - as a gift to me - if I photographed her to mark the occasion. For reasons unknown, she hates having her photograph made, and tends to roll her eyes or make a face every time the camera is pointed in her direction, so though we have lots of photographs of her, very few do her justice. And as you can see, there is justice to be done. So not only did I hope to show that to her, I wanted to share it with the world, but mostly, I wanted to be sure I had a record of it for my own: a planned, posed, set of portraits of the woman who has always been, and will always be, my guidepost, my biggest supporter, my dearest friend, and my hero.

I love these of my parents, too, and am so glad my dad agreed to jump in for a few shots, however reluctantly :D

As I sit here writing this, my mom is making her own birthday lunch, washing the dishes, and keeping an eye on my kids, so in the interest of wrapping this up and helping her out, I won't wax as poetic as I feel. In reality, though, that's a bit of a cop-out. The fact of the matter is that there are no words able to do justice to the way I feel about her... not even close.

I love you, mom.

xox,

annemie

P.S. Hair and makeup by the talented Katie Warren at Plaza 101 in Roanoke; Earrings custom made by Michelle Lassley.