Inspirations Archives - Page 2 of 12 - Shannon Von Eschen Photography

Fatherhood Frames <3

How strange to dream of you even when I am wide awake. — David Jones.

I have lofty goals of, someday, putting together a book of all the photos and writings I have to you. And to our son. These dreams won’t stop, but the days and nights escape me… And, like the weeds we pull daily at our farm, almost as soon as we breath and look back at our work, they’ve grown again. So too have my volumes of photos and words. Words strung together in collections as a valiant effort to document all I feel about you: All I can publicly say about how much I love you, adore you, cherish you, and am grateful for you. Last year, the photos and memories seemed to pile higher than our weeds (can you even imagine?), and the year passed by faster than the last. Thus, today, I have two years worth of a smattering of still-frames to share here.

Truly, this is just a glimpse from our year(s).

It’s amazing how much our son is growing up. His legs have lengthened; his face, matured. There are less and less photos of you holding him or him sitting on your lap to mow the yard: His long body too big to ride with you, and, now, finally heavy enough to mow alone. And yet, in all these years, how handsome and strong you’ve remained. Still you are present, still you support him, and still you are YOU: Adventurous, passionate, and consistently you. It’s hard for me to fathom how much life we’ve lived in such a short time, but it’s in these moments of reflection that I’m so grateful I take the photos. And that you’re both willing participants in knowing that I’m “going to want a photo of this. and that. and this!”

And you’re not wrong. I want them all.

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Citrus Inspired Easter Tablescape with Bare Root Flora

🍋 Colors are the Smiles of Nature. -Leigh Hunt 🍊

So get ready to SMILE your face off! Spring is such a joyful time of year. After the long dark days of winter, nothing could seem more refreshing than a table set with bright and beautiful citrus tones for a holiday that celebrates new life, new growth, and the return of light and warmth. We set our Easter table under an armful of blooming quince branches we’d hung. We laid a natural wood table with a gorgeous macramé runner from Anthropologie and set the table in textural tableware in shades of white and pale blue-green. For a dramatic centerpiece, we filled a terracotta roaster with all the best blooms of the season: Stunning ranunculus, sweet pea, roses, poppies, hellebores, French dianthus and lush, textural greens and accented with cut citrus fruits and sweet Easter eggs. We finished the table with darling little egg planters filled with fresh hellebore blooms. And our smiles were…huge.

– Robyn, Bare Root Flora

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Twenty

You know…I’m not sure how I’ll make it through this small notes to you right now. And I’m feeling kinda lucky that my fingertips don’t have their own tears since the ones in my eyes are already spilling onto the keyboard. It’s not a rarity for my mind to be preoccupied with you…but on days like this, I’m back to being a little girl who has the biggest crush on this one boy whose name is Jason. And just like that, I’m undone.

Today makes twenty. Twenty years of officially wearing your ring, taking your name, and waking up from a “nightmare” dream a few times a year that I’ve married the wrong person…only to wake up and hold you close because the man in my dreams is actually just you. Oh but truly, who does that? I suppose when you’re ten years old and you absolutely, without a doubt, think you’ve found your person already, and then it becomes a reality (only by the grace and miracles of God) do you do that. Oh yes: I do! I do that!

This morning, our precious boy made us breakfast in bed: pancakes and buttered toast. “I was going to make eggs,” he said, “but I wasn’t sure how to use the stove here.” On the counter of the kitchen he left a note for us both. It was so beautifully written, I could hardly make out the words through salt-filled eyes. His last sentence made my cheeks stain with tears: “Thank you guys for being such good parents…

Thank you for a good life. Love Eli.”

Trying to reflect back on everything we’ve done, experienced, traveled, seen, and survived through seems truly overwhelming. I have tens of thousands of photos of us and likely twice that in my own colorful memories, and yet…how can so much time have escaped us so fast? “Time flies when you’re having fun” it’s said, so is this truly why? I mean, it’s no secret that you and I have been buried before–underneath true sorrow and pain that’s swallowed us whole sometimes; and, yet, I swear to high heaven our joys have felt the same! Our valleys are dark and deep, but our mountains of joy are beautiful, peaceful, serene, bright, and full of the wonderful dance that life swings us through.

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