I still remember being one of the only ones to be able to rock her to sleep as a baby...That song we used to sing over and over and over again on her little red airplane swing...how's it go Cyli..."Life is just a big bowl of, CHERRIES..." The time I thought it was just a bird, and when she brought it over, it was a kitten! Cyli was my very first
real assignment in my high school photography class. She was the one who couldn't go to sleep without 'baby Spottie', and when she lost the first one, we bought her another one...and when she lost that one, we bought her another one, and when she lost that one and we couldn't find another one, I went all the way to France to find her another one. She was the one who begged me to let her drive without even a permit, and she was the one who got her way...at least for the half mile from the church to my house, and with my hand on the steering wheel the entire time. She's got an infectious laugh and just being around her is contagious. Saying "I love you" is something we always say when we hang up the phone and I think most of her friends would agree. Fifteen years old and we haven't even scratched the surface and I can't even wait to see what's next.
Giving Cyli a camera is like giving water to a flower seed and watching it grow. The outcome is simply amazing and far beyond your expectations. I suppose it runs in the blood, but she takes phenominal pictures and I'm glad to call her my assistant, my second photographer, my second pair of eyes at my weddings. She somehow manages to see what I am doing, she knows what I'm going to get, and she gets me another completely different angle. I still want to call her every time I come across one of her photos when I'm editing, and I laugh when I can't even tell her pictures from mine.
Several of you know her already. Many of you will meet her soon. For the rest of you,
keep watching the tv, cause one day she'll be something.
**For anyone who knows Cyli, these next two are SO her!
