Whew, what a year… first there was covid and I say that in past tense because it is incredibly overshadowed at this point. As if it couldn’t get worse, this year literally did. Now it’s covid AND massive chaos. My heart honestly aches at the state of our world. I’ve posted on this on my social media pages so I am not going too far into it here but I want all of you… white, black, yellow, orange, purple… to know that I am with you. I support you. I love you, and I’m sorry for the division in our world. I am committed to doing my part to bridge the gap and be a part of the change!
In light of the way this year has gone for all of us, I want to put some of the spotlight specifically on our 2020 graduates. 13 years of hard work and anticipation and it ends like this. My heart truly breaks for the things they have missed out on, and will never be able to reclaim. To all of you that are grieving your senior year prom, senior week, celebrations, GRADUATION ceremony… I have spent so much time thinking of you and I mean this as genuinely as possible that I literally cannot imagine how you feel. This is such a big deal and a time full of so many fond memories for me when I think back on my senior year and I am so sorry that this is the way your senior year story looks.
I received the honor of photographing Matoaca High School senior, Delaney Lambiotte recently and truly feel humbled that her family even considered having me provide them with these photos as a bit of light in the darkness that has surrounded the end of Delaney’s senior year! She is beautiful and fun to photograph so that was a major plus to this session but knowing that I was able to be a small part of a little positivity in this situation for her is a warm feeling for me.
Delaney has had an incredible high school career and began her high school years strong. During her freshman year she was on the JV cheerleading squad and varsity track team. Sophomore year she advanced to the varsity cheerleading squad and varsity lacrosse team. Are you impressed yet? She also participated on a competitive cheerleading team during all 4 high school years. She is incredible!
I took some time to ask Delaney a few questions and would love to share her response here. I hope that this provides a little insight about what our community of seniors are feeling and walking through. Uplift and support them any chance you get. This is a big, hard thing for them!
Delaney says the hardest part about the way her senior year ended was that she didn’t realize it would be the last time she would see some of her friends and teachers and that she missed the chance to say goodbye. An added sting was that she had just gotten her prom dress the week before school ended and she is so grateful she was able to still have her “prom day” captured by me (y’all this is so humbling for me!). In terms of her feelings towards finding out that school was over, she initially felt shock and denial about all of the events and memories were being stripped from her and her peers and as reality set in over the following days, she felt even more sadness which continued over the following couple of weeks. Missed events and activities for the seniors included the end of her lacrosse season, senior skip day, prom, senior week, and a traditional graduation ceremony. Can y’all honestly imagine the way this type of loss would’ve felt for us that have such fond memories of our senior year? ugh.
In pure Delaney (amazing) fashion, she has worked herself into a new routine, has filled some of her time with her love for art and has learned a new hobby of sewing. She now runs a small local business making and selling face masks. I told y’all, she is awesome!
Delaney will be attending JMU in the fall to study nursing! I sincerely hope this fall brings a new, fresh and POSITIVE start to her college career. I wish the same for all of our 2020 graduates and pray that you all find light in this dark time and make the best of this situation! And of course, I am so grateful to have been able to capture these images for her and would love to do the same for any of you seniors! With that, I’m thrilled to announce that I have a giveaway running for a FREE senior session! Check out my facebook and instagram pages to enter!
Good luck to all of you and thank you for supporting me!
-Ashley
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