These days, it’s pretty rare, and such a gift, to be able to call childhood friends lifelong friends. Like the ones you do middle school with. The ones you do acne, braces, glitter eye shadow and overalls with. The ones you go to Destiny’s Child concerts with (when Destiny’s Child was still a thing). The ones you pass notebooks back-and-forth between classes with, and link arms and walk through the halls with. The ones you do Friday night football games, late-night homework sessions and weekend-long sleepovers with. The ones you record silly videos with — and then, as an adult, thank God they’re on VHS in your parents’ attic somewhere and not on social media, because Facebook and Instagram didn’t exist yet. The ones you got to T9 text with… and TI-89 calculator with. The ones whom you room in college with, walk down the aisle at your wedding and are first on your list when the stick turns pink and you FaceTime to say, “We’re pregnant!”

Traci is that rare friend to Amy… to us.

She’s lived in San Diego for the past few years, where she’s one of the best elementary school teachers in her district. Our words, not hers. But we can’t say we’re surprised. Thus, we haven’t seen as much in the past ten years as we did in the ten years prior, but every time we talk, it’s like we’re back in glitter eye shadow and overalls again — with slightly more sophisticated conversation. But only slightly. As a friend, if we could describe Traci in just a few words, we’d say this: she’s a soft place to land. She has this rare gift of natural interest and empathy. She really, truly, deeply cares about us and our life, when we were high school sweethearts, elementary school teachers and all that’s come since. She’s always believed in us and supported our dreams — like leaving our stable day jobs and becoming full-time photographers — even when it didn’t make sense to many others.

That’s what made this session so special for us. It was a chance to celebrate almost two decades of friendship and say “thank you” to a friend who always gave (and always gives) without ever asking for anything in return.

Traci, you are our lockbox. Our secret keeper. Our most quiet supporter yet one of our loyal allies. From the moment we met Jared a few years ago, we thanked God for bringing you someone who’s a reflection of you; which, is, perhaps the highest compliment we could pay him. We love you both more than you’ll ever know, and we can’t wait to do this next phase of life with you. Our goal is to be friends for so long, that we live to see the day when glitter eyeshadow and overalls make the comeback they deserve.