Where It All Began

Had lunch with a friend today, viewed his incredible and busy photo lab, heard the stories of where it all began.

What do I consider my beginning, in terms of career? I'd had an inkling for a long, long time, but I do believe that there was a precise moment in which I knew it would all be real someday.

The year was.... 2003, I believe. It was early winter. I had driven down after work to my parents place - a mere 2 hour drive - and so it must have been a Friday. I had on a blue skirt (the things that stick in your memory).

There was a manilla envelope in the mail for me. We had moved back from England six months prior, and I had used my parents' address as mine for a few purposes, so it was common for me to find mail at their house. I opened up the envelope and in it was a copy of V-Twin magazine and a check for almost $500 dollars. I had been published.

I yelled out. I was standing in the kitchen when I opened the package, and I actually let out a scream. Then I started jumping up and down. Not only had I been published, but I had the feature story, spread over several pages. It was amazing, and it was rewarding, and it felt right in every single way.

That would be where it all began for me. I don't have a cool hand-carved sign, but I have a very clear memory of the way that moment felt when I saw and felt and held in my hand my own future.