So I’m going on an adventure with my grown-up daughter.

There are a few things to examine in that simple sentence. Foremost for me (and, after all, who’s it all about?) is that I am the mother of an adult. How did that happen? Grace is an almost-23-year-old young woman considering her future. The “what” is pretty certain: continuing her post-graduate work. She wants to share her passion for English literature as a teacher at the college level. The “where” is an open question. So we are going exploring.

Which brings us to the adventure. We are going to spend eight days crossing four states in a part of the country we are completely unfamiliar with. This is a different kind of travel for me. We know where we will lay our heads every night, but beyond that there is no plan. No plan?? Me??? We’ll be visiting some universities, so that provides the broad outline of the itinerary. But really, getting from Point A to Point B is just as important. We’ll have time to wander and discover and see what catches our eyes.

And it will be just the two of us. This isn’t a family vacation, or a quick drop-you-off-at-college-and-turn-around-and-come-home trip. This is a rare opportunity for us to just hang out together, and I am so looking forward to it. Wherever Grace does end up in 2012, it will likely be far away and for several years at least. I plan to savor this.

So there you are. It looks like the weather is settling down so we should only have to contend with a few thundershowers. I’m sure we’ll get lost. I’m sure there will be (minor, I hope) mishaps. And I’m absolutely sure we’ll laugh a lot. Grace and I hope to post updates and some photos on my Facebook page as we go. If you’d like to follow along, go here and “like” the page. I think you’ll be entertained. We fly to Indianapolis on Sunday and hit the road from there.

Your future is bright ahead, dear Grace. I’m so happy to share this little piece of it with you.

Hilary knows that this empty-nest mom is happy when her girls are around to fill the house with their laughter. And she knows that I can get a little misty when it’s time for them to go again. As that time drew near for her last summer, she came to me one afternoon and said, “Let’s play.” Well, you don’t have to ask me twice.

She gave me the gift of her time. We went down to Albany Bulb and the Golden Gate Fields parking lot and just goofed around. Yes. In a parking lot. We had a blast amid the hay bales and graffiti. (The outfit changes were her idea, I promise. Is she a great kid or what?) In just a few hours I could experience and capture the many sides of Hilary: her beauty, her flair, her silliness. What a gift!

In a way, photographs are themselves the gift of time. They allow us to freeze a moment, and then remember it every time we look at the images. Portrait sessions can be fun and creative and unexpected. And you can relive that experience over and over again by looking at a slideshow or holding a quality print in your hand.

Is it time to celebrate the life you are living right now? I’d love to help you capture a moment in time.

Let’s play.

An Afternoon with Hilary.