Happy Birthday Steven!

I did not take either of the pictures on this post but wanted to share about a wonderful nephew of mine.

My nephew turned 20 yesterday. He has always been a special person in my life. His mother is my twin sister, Diane. She got pregnant with Steven when we were right out of high school. He was a true joy from the day he was born. He never cried, had these brilliant blue eyes and the sweetest disposition ever. Diane, Steven and I lived at my parent's home while Diane and I went to college. I spent many weekends taking Steven to all the fun places in San Diego like the Zoo, Wild Animal Park (scary dinosaurs!), the beach and Sea World. It has been great seeing him grow into the man he is today.

He was the first person I ever photographed in a studio setting. I had just started working for the JCPenney portrait studio and he was three months old. He was my first ever practice session. Over the years the poor boy has gone through multitudes of sessions with every type of pose and prop imaginable. One Halloween, I think he was three, we covered him with black cloth up to his neck, posed pumpkins all around him on the black material and made him make faces pretending he was one of the carved pumpkins. The images are hysterical.

He had an enormous passion for baseball from the time he was able to walk and you could always find him in my Mom's backyard playing baseball games...usually against himself. My dad had season passes to the Padres and he would dress in his little Padre uniform, go to the game and cheer on Tony Gwynn in right field. He knew all the players at a young age and today still has the same passion for the game.

Steven plays baseball for a college team today and has turned into a gorgeous young man. He will always hold a special place in my heart and I hope he knows how special he is.

Happy 20th Birthday Steven-We love you!