I am just back from shooting a beautiful wedding in Topsail Island (will post photos soon), but am sad to report that my beautiful, sweet mom has just been diagnosed with a (hopefully benign) brain tumor. It's a long story, but she's been feeling poorly for a few days and couldn't figure out why. My brother and his wife and my dad took her to the hospital today to see if she was just fighting the flu, and I guarantee no one expected to see a dark spot on her CT scan. She is in the hospital tonight in Stony Brook, New York, since my folks have moved up to Shelter Island for the summer. My siblings and I will all be joining them in a few days, as was the plan to celebrate July 4th, so now it is good that we can all be there for her surgery and recovery. I'm very melancholy and worried tonight, as you can well imagine, and it makes me grateful for all the joyful events I get to be part of for so many families. You all cheer me up, always.

Please bear with me if it takes a few days to get back to you if you've written with any questions or inquiries. I'll be in New York from July 3-14th, shooting a wedding and being with family. I will check email and the blog, though, so will not be entirely out of reach. Sigh. A more cheerful post will be pending soon, since I have a few sweet shoots to share before I leave Thursday.

Here's my mom last year holding Baby Lila at three days old, and then bringing me a cake on my (fill in any number here) birthday a few days later. Isn't she gorgeous?