This moment, this day at this beach, with this sweet family. The way he's looking at his wife. The way mom is leaned in close to her little girl. Those little toes curled in excitement to be in her daddy's arms, safely above the waves, her arms wrapped around his neck.

It seems like every day, our lives change like these tides. Our happiness ebbs and flows with our circumstances. Phases end and different ones begin.  Goals are reached and fresh ones are set. Struggles that weighed on us last week are lifted, and we are free for a while, until the tides go out and bring us something new.

But these days, these moments. It sounds utterly cliche, I realize this. But that doesn't matter to me. At every session, my goal is to see a spark of magic. Sometimes it's obvious and sometimes I have to look closely to recognize it. But still, I watch for a moment that jumps out at me. A moment that, if captured on film, might one day serve as a visual reminder of the things that truly last.

After everything fades away, love is always there.  When she heads off to college, when she has a family of her own, she will still have this photograph and will always know how much they completely adored her.