About a year ago I took pictures of this awesome family to hang on their father's (husband's) hospital walls. It's been a big year. There was a valiant battle with a rare sarcoma.  There was loss and there has been grief.  There have been good days and bad days. And now there is the moving forward again into future that looks very different from the past. 

We tend to think of heroism as the leaping-of-tall-buildings sort of events, but the more you live life, the more you come to see that the greatest battles happen behind the scenes with little fanfare. The true heroes?  They are the ones who win the daily battle of putting one foot in front of another, who can look an uncertain future in the face and say, "I am coming anyway."  Some mornings you can rise up with great courage and face the day.  Other's you just manage to raise your hand to say, "Present." But on you go.

Krissie and her kids are doing just that.  We took another set of family pictures this year to mark where they are now and how they are moving forward.  Every detail was symbolic.  They wanted to wear their super hero shirts to document their quirky side as well as their overcoming.  And there is another shirt on Krissie's lap, the one Rob wore last year.  I am grateful for the erratic weather we were dealing with because I didn't have time to really process that as I was shooting. I can tell you that working on them afterwards was tough.  

Barbara Bloom says:

"When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something's suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful."

This is what strikes me this year.  Their family suffered a great blow, but if possible they are even more beautiful than they were.  

So, what's your super power?  Are you struggling with illness, a wayward child, a lay-off?  Have you moved – maybe again and again – to a new place where you are just another face in the crowd?  Are you buried under laundry and diapers? Behind that chatty Facebook wall are you slaying dragons all those "friends" are unaware of?

Then let me ask you this?  Did you get up today? Did you get cereal in some bowls? Did you shower? 

Awesome!  You're a super hero too. Here's to all of us.  <g>  Keep up the good work.