Of Beauty and Bouncy Balls

   I’ve known this young woman and her family for quite a few years now.. her Dad was my sons soccer coach, her brother is one of my sons BF’s … her parents are just awesome, dedicated folks and we’ve been glad to know them.  SHE is a sweetheart – beautiful inside and out, although she would shy away from any of this  praise.

  Once upon a time, when the kids were younger and dating meant you were “going out” but you didn’t really talk to each other much, if at all, although notes were passed back and forth and flowers were bought on Valentines Day…. my son and this beauty were a couple.  What does that mean when you’re 12 or 13?  Not much in the grand scheme of things.  But I have a picture that represents the joy and innocence of that age.  She and he are in it….. I love this photo.. it captures what I wish we could all conjure up now and then… pure, uncluttered joy.

I was asked to take pictures of her and her new beau (not so new really – I believe a year or so together) for prom this past weekend, and she just took my breath away. What a beauty, as if she even knows it. Her guy is handsome, to say the very least.

 Even though they are still very young… there is an ease between them that shows even on film.  Ofcourse there is much ahead of them… the remainder of HS, college and plans for the future. They always say the odds of HS sweethearts lasting are slim, but I’ve known a few.  I am thrilled to have captured these moments for them….and strangely enough, for me.

 

 So what do bouncy balls have to do with it?
Her mom over the years and between three kids
 has been collecting all those little colorful rubber balls
the kids get out of the quarter machines at grocery stores,
goody bags at birthday parties,
consolation prizes at the dentist…
you know the kind
..and she put them in a big glass vase
that sits on the living room coffee table.
How cool is that.

23 thoughts on “Of Beauty and Bouncy Balls”

  2. I love a good young relationship. Guess be we are products of one. We start dating 2 weeks after my 16th birthday, I was a sophomore, he was 18 months old and a senior in high school.
    Fast forward ahead, I graduated high school on a Thursday and we were married the following Saturday.
    Come this Monday, that will have been 41 years ago!
    We still are best friends and love each other over the top!

  5. That collection is WAY cool!!

    Gorgeous photos! but all I can say is thank god I didn't end up with my hs boyfriend!!

  7. Very! Very cool indeed…we are HS Sweethearts, this year will be 41 for us! They are a handsome couple, love the heart with hands in the pic. Those balls represent childhood and that moment when Mom says yes to a quarter for the machine. You can't ever put a price on a smile!

  9. great photos….great fun. love the rubber ball vase !

    my hubby and i are high school sweethearts and we will celebrate 27 years of marriage in december….and they said it wouldn't last 🙂

    we've actually been together for almost 31 years….where does the time go?

  10. Not hs sweetheart but married to my college sweetheart 26 years now. Pretty pictures and I love the way you wrote about it.

    Looking forward to visiting.

  12. Amazing photography and a gorgeous couple! You certainly have an eye for it.

    I wonder how many of those balls I have around here? Never thought to display them.

  13. Gorgeous photos, Karen. They take my breath away as well. Love the one at the top with your boy. So sweet.

    My little brother married his HS sweetheart 38 years ago. They were both 18! 🙂

  23. That's an awesome collection, but I'm just imagining a pet knocking that over and bouncy balls EVERYWHERE! Oh the humanity!

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