Newborn Angel

This sweet baby is from the shoot I did this week.

Happy Father's Day

Today in my home it is Happy Mentor a Boy Day

or maybe Happy Male Role Model Day.....?

Of course, I have a dad. He was a good dad--maybe not perfect, but I do know that my dad loved me and did his best to provide the physical, emotional and spiritual support children need. He is 80-years old now and lives in another state--yet, he is still a loving and caring dad and grandfather. My father was a great example to me of what a father and husband should be. And he continues to lead and support my children and me. I looked for a picture of my dad with me as a child, but there aren't many, because (like me) me was usually behind the camera lens taking the pictures.

This is a picture of my dad (PapaJoe) with El Jay taken in Logan, Utah, in 2005.

Another picture from the same day in Logan, Utah. At the cemetery visiting my dad's maternal grandfather's grave. A rare picture with me. The sprinklers were running and my dad was simply enjoying the moment. The boy running thru the sprinkler and picture is my sister, Sylvia's, son. And of course 2 1/2 year old El Jay.

El Jay and his dad running thru the sprinklers at the cemetary.

It has been two Father's Days since El Jay was with his own father. He will never again do those things he enjoyed doing with his dad. There are many things that he won't learn from his father. No matter who or what his father is, I hope El Jay will have good, possitive memories of his father. I am also grateful that this man will never again hurt another little boy. My hope for El Jay is that he will be blessed with many men who will be influential in his life. He has four brothers, PapaJoe, a couple uncles and a hand-full of male cousins. There will be teachers and coaches and other men who will come into his life to guide and teach him what it is like to be a man and father. A man doesn't have to be a father to reach out and show love and kindness to a child and to show a young boy what a real man truly is like.

Thank you to all the people who are in their own ways helping me to raise this boy into the man he will someday be.