“Family is not an important thing, it's everything.” Michael J. Fox

I just love that quote!

If you’re like me, you’ve wondered how the years passed so quickly. One day they’re little, the next they’re graduating and building lives of their own. Annual family portraits become a beautiful record of those seasons, who you were, together, in that moment.

Life changes without warning. In December 2009, I insisted on an updated extended family portrait. I had no idea it would be the last time I photographed my Dad. He passed away unexpectedly five months later. Those portraits are now priceless.

When someone is gone, we reach for photographs. They make us smile, cry, remember, and feel. They pull us back to a time we can’t return to, but deeply treasure. These images don’t just document, they become part of our legacy.

So when is the right time for family photos? Now. Not when schedules calm down, not when you lose ten pounds, not someday. No one will ever look back and wish you waited. They will be grateful you existed in the frame with them.

Pause. Be present. Celebrate the people you love, while they are still beside you.

Don’t wait for “someday.” Schedule your family portrait while you still have today.