We came into the year limping.  It’s a common occurrence when happen when your child has a learning disability.

So when the new school year began, we walked through the doors of my daughter’s 3rd grade classroom with trembling hearts.  And there we were greeted by Mrs. Southerland.

When the world didn’t know what to do with my daughter’s hand-writing, Mrs. Southerland saw past the mechanics and told Hannah the truth: she was a WRITER.  And dysgraphia was NOT going to keep her from sharing her gift.

In her classroom, Hannah learned that we CAN do hard things.  She learned to make mistakes and to fall in love with learning.  And above all, she learned that she was SEEN and LOVED.

Hannah’s story is one of many.  Students still come back from their middle schools and high schools JUST to hug Mrs. Southerland.  Because she taught us the sacred truth: we MATTER.  We can do hard things.  And we are LOVED.

For three years now, I’ve documented her precious family.  I’ve watched their love grow.  And I’ll be honest, when her daughter ran up to me at their session and hugged me, I almost cried.  Because these people mean the world to me.

To see more from our time together, CLICK HERE to view their slide-show.