I knew I was seated in the back when I ordered our seats. My oldest granddaughter once asked me "Why did you stop bringing your camera to our events?" - She only had to say it once, and I knew that it mattered to her. I knew when she smiled and saw me from across the room, that not only did my presence mattered, but that I listened to her and did bring my camera to capture her, and went out of my way to do it. In doing this, I saw things in a way that no one else did and I captured it. When I captured this shot, I had NO IDEA she was going to jump or getting ready for a leap. I can see in the photographs leading up to this leap, she didn't hesitate. I didn't know it was coming, but I watched it all in a way that I know, others may not have even noticed. I asked her afterwards, "were you nervous?" and she said she was, but you couldn't tell. When I watched it through my lens, everyone else disappeared and I was so proud of her and couldn't believe it. "Did she just do that?" I thought. It was a big deal, and I captured it and I was there for it.

I live the world through my camera. Times have changed since I started, but the way I see through my camera hasn't. It's a struggle in a world where photography has changed drastically and everyone also has their own way of capturing these moments, but the way I see, it's almost harder for me to see it, experience it, without my camera than with. It's a part of me that sometimes I wish I could turn off, but in moments like this, every part of me is glad that I can't. These moments, matter so much to me, and it's a memory that I captured. It's one of the most inspiring and rewarding things about being a photographer, but being the grandmother and being here to see it? The most rewarding.