This is one of my favorite pictures of Leah when she was carrying Ava:
Aside from always being a bit envious of photogenic people, I just love how Leah glows here. Since I’ve never figured out exactly how the whole month-counting thing works, I’ll simply say that this picture was taken April 2004 (Ava was born in September ’04).
When I look at this picture now, I imagine Ava 13 years from now, lying on her bed with her friends and looking at old pictures on a laptop (or whatever kids are using a decade from now to view pictures). They’ll come to this picture, and all Ava’s friends will say, “Wow, your mother was so beautiful!” As beautiful as Leah remains, it’s a bit sad that Ava didn’t know her mother then. I only hope she understands that all that beauty she sees on her mother’s outside was due to all the beauty her mother felt inside.