Sometimes we get gifts we didn’t ask for, gifts we didn’t think we wanted or needeed. And sometimes we end up wondering how we ever lived without them. 2020 brought pain and loss and isolation but as I went through my 2020 photos to put together my annual family slideshow and album, there was no denying that it also brought much more.

1. More time outside I I thought that we spent a good amount of time outdoors but 2020 took it to new levels and removed the barriers we would have been constrained by. In 2020, a nice day was defined as pretty much any day when it wasn’t hailing. Just being outside was welcomed and we took more long walks, hikes and spent more time in our own yard and exploring places that we’d never even heard of than we ever had before.

2. Sincere gratitude for the everyday, mundane parts of our lives

As 2020 rolled along, every day seemed to remind us of things that we couldn’t do anymore, places we couldn’t go and the little interactions that we missed. As someone who happily works for myself and spends a lot of time on my own, I didn’t necessarily think that I would mind being hunkered down at home. It’s not as if I am used to a busy, social office environment or tons of small talk with people all day. But I quickly realized that whether it was my in-person yoga classes, interactions at a coffee shop or just seeing familiar people out and about while on my daily runs, those connections matter.

Going to restaurants or a movie with my family are never the things that we think of as major events but when you take all of those indirectly social experiences away, it’s like the color in a photo was taken away. Things like our annual Cape vacation and the kids playing on sports teams have always been fun but this year, they were lifelines.

Will we take all of this for granted again in a year? Possibly….probably. But for now anyway, we are acutely aware of how much the little moments shared with others and all of the routine things we do really matter.

3. A dog…..and a trampoline!

A dog was something we talked about as a “maybe someday”. Mike never grew up with pets but he had adapted easily to life with cats. The extra responsibility of a dog was not appealing to him though and made me a little nervous too. We have older kids who sleep in and the last thing I wanted was to be getting up at 5 AM for a dog or unable to take spontaneous day trips or overnights trips because of a dog. We were in agreement, no puppies! Well, so much for that plan! We brought home a 9 week old golden retriever in late October and joined the Pandemic Puppy club. Turns out he sleeps like a champ and has been a pretty awesome addition to our crew.

As for that trampline, it was previously a “No way” but by April it was a “Why not?!” and it’s been a godsend for the last 10+ months. Were it not for this bizarre situation we are in, I’m not sure when or if either of these things would have happened but 2020 made lots of people take unexpected leaps.

4. Hope

The year was dark in so many ways but there was also hope. Standing side by side with hundreds of people in June at a gathering to support George Floyd, it was palpable and in November, it was undeniable. The nation is far from “fixed” but the unrest this year ignited change and the end of the Trump years may be the best gift of all that 2020 brought us.

5. Time

If you are a gushy sentimental parent like I am, you are always longing for more time and cursing the pace at which it flies by. Well, be careful what you wish for, right? Maybe this year gave you more time together with your family than you ever wanted and surely, it wasn’t all the magical sort of time you may have been envisioning.

Still, I found myself thinking that there will likely never again be a time in their lives where they are together this much. They were 7 and 10 when this started and are now 8 and 11. They are no longer in the same school and will only experience that for one more year when Zoe is a senior in high school. We are lucky in that they were aleady pretty tight but this last year brought them closer than ever in ways that no other experience we could have created ever would have.

For so much of this last year, we only had each other and we all leaned into it pretty hard. We didn’t ask for it, we didn’t want it and we deeply grieve the experience and moments that we lost but we can feel all of that and simultaneously feel gratitude for the parts of 2020 that changed us for the better.

At the end of each year, I put together a collection of our photos and video clips to make a slideshow for the year. When we view the final product from our couch on the TV, it always feels like a trip we are taking through the last year and this year in particular was bittersweet. This is our 2020.

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Melrose Stays Home was born from something that caught my eye on morning runs and after dinner walks around our neighborhood. This was during the first couple of days after we were all told to stay home and press pause on life as we know it. Families were out in the driveways, coloring with chalk. Families were taking walks after dinner, all together. Parents were sitting on the front lawn with their kids blowing bubbles or playing catch. Mind you, it was March– not exactly the best time of year for weather in New England.

These are beautiful but not extraordinary moments and yet it was suddenly all that I saw, everywhere, every day. It was clear that a new kind of life was taking shape and demanding to be noticed, even if it was only going to be temporary.

At first, I thought about just bringing my camera out with me and snapping candids. Taking street photos used to be one of my favorite things to do when we lived in Cambridge over a decade ago. I used to be pretty good at going largely unnoticed. But it occurred to me that being open about taking photos of families and connecting with them about how they were doing might just be the best balm for our collective isolation. So I decided to recruit families and in exchange for a photo of this strange moment in time, they would agree to purchase a gift card to one of our many amazing local businesses.

I thought maybe I would photograph a few dozen families. As I began sharing photos daily alongside the stories that families so generously shared with me, the response took on a life of its own. Within 2 months, we passed the 200 family mark.

I am proud of this project and of the snapshot in time that it offers. I knew that the stories had power on their own but I also knew that they really belonged together. The first way to do that is here and is a video featuring all of the participants set to music that I selected by artists Lady Bri, Asher and JJ Heller. Last, I am puting together all of the images and the stories shared by each family in a book format to be donated to our local library.

I love the idea of a child who is born in 2020 year flipping through the pages of this book at the library in 20 years and getting a glimpse of what we all experienced, apart…but together. Please check out the video below–Amazing music elevates the collection of some of Melrose’s finest!

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Here are a few of my favorites!

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That said, I always emphasize that while locations can set a tone, family sessions are really about just that: family. No matter where I photograph you, what matters most is the connection between everyone and the bonds between this fun group were more than evident. I know that many people assume that a family photo session with more than 10 people is bound to be chaotic but it really does’t have to be if you just embrace the energy and roll with it.  I  loved how we were able to easily get a number of large group shots and then still have more than enough time for so many other combinations. I knew that we would aim to capture each individual family as well as shots of the grandparents with their grandchildren but along the way, some of my other favorites were of the adult siblings hamming it up, the grandparents together and the candid shots between cousins and aunts and nephews.

Here are a few of the many shots that this session yielded….Happy Fourth of July!

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This session was indeed a short spurt–a mini session with little Olivia in one of my favorite pockets of the Fells. I first photographed Olivia in the Public Garden when she turned 2 in the spring and then again at her baby sister Arianna’s newborn session in the fall. We managed to sneak in a few shots of Arianna and mom, Erin at the end but this was really about capturing Olivia in this gorgeous morning light.

If the snow sticks around, my hope is to have the chance for more winter mini sessions so be sure to email me if you want to be contacted when/if these should happen!

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Right on the cusp of fall but on a night that still felt like summer, I had a late day beach session with the Finch family.  Kim and Rob had the winning bid on the session that I donated to the Horace Mann School fundraiser last spring and since they spend much of their summer on Plum Island, it was the perfect backdrop.  Zoe and Colby have been fast friends since they met in Kindergarten last year and Ryan and Lilly are good buddies too so I get to see these guys in various settings all the time but it was a real treat to get to capture just the four of them in a place that has real meaning to them. Here are a few of my many favorites:

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