The World Turned Upside Down ~ The Story of the Class of 2020

I graduated high school in 1998. The world had been laid at my feet, whether I knew it or not at that time, and I was preparing to step over the edge and enter “adulting”. Officially.

But first, I got to experience the requisite rites of passage afforded to most Seniors during their last year of high school.
I went to my prom. We didn’t stay very long. I wore a vintage black dress a la Courtney Love, my idol at the time. Yeah. I was 17. I thought I looked pretty dope (we said dope then).
We took our final tests. My friends got their college acceptance packages back before all of that was done online.
We compared ACT test scores and some of us attended or played our last football, basketball, or soccer games. (Not this girl. I was more of the “skip the pep rally to go sit a IHOP and drink copious amounts of coffee” type).
We walked across the stage, we switched our tassels, we bid farewell to people we felt like we had known forever.

We probably felt like our world was being turned upside down.

This year’s graduating seniors were born in 2001/2002/2003….right on the heels of 9/11. A time when everything changed for our country. For the world. They don’t know of or remember a time when you could bid farewell to your loved ones at an airline gate. When you didn’t have to bother taking your shoes off at security They don’t know what it was like to watch that disaster live on television and feel utterly helpless. They don’t recall the somber cloud that hung over the country for years following.

Everything for them was post-9/11

Now, here we are. We find ourselves in a world TRULY turned upside down. No one, unless they are very, very old, has lived through a time like this before. Where everything has ground to a halt. Where the rites of passage afforded to millions of kids over the years have been stripped away. Where all we have now is uncertainty and questions.

I didn’t know it then, but the Seniors I photographed last year will always be a special group. They are the kids who didn’t get the walk across the stage, didn’t get to dance at their prom, didn’t get to perform in that final school musical, and will NEVER forget what it was like to lose all of that.

These are the post-9/11 kids living through COVID-19. Their world turned upside down. The stories they will have to tell will be incredible. Because someday this will just be a story you pass down to your kids when you want them to realize how freaking lucky they are that THEY’RE not quarantined with their whole family in one house for weeks with no end in sight. This is gonna be your “I walked 20 miles in the snow each way to school and back” story. This is your “Grandma lived through the Depression and that’s why she pickles pigs feet” tale.

It gives me a small amount of comfort to know that someday, hopefully soon, this will all just be in the past and be a story we tell.

So I wanted to just celebrate this special group here. Congratulations to Sara, Olivia, Lauren, Ryan, Josh, Grace, Spencer, Maiya, Craig, and Sophie. I wish you SO much luck in the future!

Fractured Thoughts ~ COVID-19 Lockdown ~ Volume 3

Oh kiddos.

Guys, I was so looking forward to 2020. Seriously, after the year we had in 2019, 2020 was so chock full of promise. Trips, new adventures, ideas…….

Blarg. That’s my only word for this whole thing. BLARRRRGGG.

But, we’ve settled into a…..not quite a routine here in the Reseburg household….more like a reluctant acceptance of whatever comes about.

My summer is now devoid of weddings. Which is so bizarre I can’t even begin to think about it. Disney was cancelled. I cancelled my Canada trip. We have tickets for Dear Evan Hansen in July. Probably cancelled.

BUT, rather than dwell on the “not gonna happens”….I’m choosing to focus on the glass-half-full part of things. At least for the contents of this particular blog.

SO….to regain some sense of normalcy, let’s talk about the good….

LISTENING TO: Since I haven’t been in my car, I haven’t really been listening to anything new. I have happened upon a YouTube channel called Weird History that I rather like.
We’ve been trying to introduce the girls to some new music from our bygone days. We listened to Goldfinger and Nirvana this week while we hung out, hoping they would enjoy it just a little bit. Time will tell.

WATCHING: I feel like we’ve reached the end of all TV. YouTube included. The boredom has overtaken us some days. If I had to watch ONE MORE thing I would scream. I’ve gotten through a litany of whole seasons of various shows: We, of course, binge watched Tiger King with the rest of the world (it IS as bonkers as everyone says). I binged AfterLife on Netflix, second season. Also very good. My husband got his hands on the entire series of Road to Avonlea for me, so I’ve been watching that here and there as of late. It’s right up my “soft-focus, Canadian turn-of-the-century period drama loving” alley. I had never watched the series before, so I’m enjoying diving in to something new.

The BIGGEST news on the entertainment front, however, was released today. Hamilton the Movie is coming out EARLY on July 3rd and I just don’t know how I’m going to be patient until then. Seeing Hamilton live was pretty much a religious experience for me (and I’m not being sarcastic at all, I outright sobbed through most of it). I cannot WAIT to see the recorded version of the OBC.

READING: Let’s be real. The only thing I’ve been reading lately is Reddit postings. Sigh.

But, it’s ok.
I’ve told myself it’s ok if the only thing good I do all day is make sure my children brush their teeth at least once. None of us have EVER been through this kind of thing before. There’s no manual on how you’re supposed to act, really. I’m just trying not to lose it on the daily.

We’ve tried to pay heed to the little things. We found a nest of baby bunnies in our garden (of course, being that we live in the woods, the baby bunnies were gone this morning and all that remained was some blood splatter….and truly…..we live in a dystopia).

I just really, really, REALLY want to get back to work.

So, that being said, the “Badger Bounce Back” program for re-opening the state has said that I can shoot. Outside, for now. And maintaining social distancing. So, that mean Seniors and families, you can feel free to schedule for this summer. I am keeping the “Spring Forward” 50% off special up until the end of May. So, you can not only schedule but you can do so at a discount (www.typeaimages.com/store)

As for weddings, I am offering a wedding special for anyone who would like to still get married under the current guidelines. Currently, those guidelines state 10 or less people attending and social distancing taking place. Shoot me a contact form and we can talk about special packages for these situations.

I am booking for 2021 as normal.

I’ve made some much-needed updates to the website and hopefully all of us in the arts and the wedding industry will be able to weather this weird-ass time.

Hang in there, friends.

Fractured Thoughts ~ COVID-19 Lockdown Update

Welp. Here we are, day 45.

Feels like SO much longer. I’ve run the gamut of the grief process….because, let’s face it…it’s not being dramatic to say we are all grieving in some way or another during this:
Some of us are angry.
Some of us are in denial.
Some of us are depressed.
Some of us are getting around to acceptance. Slowly.

I’m not sure where I am. It changes daily. We were supposed to be in Disney right now, as I write this. A vacation partially funded through an incredibly generous gift given to us after the absolutely abysmal 2019 we had. Bridgie was supposed to turn 4 amidst Princess visits and fun cartoon rides. Instead we Zoom called with the family and I made the ugliest homemade cake ever created.

Not only that, I dreamed of taking a vacation to Prince Edward Island since I was 8 years old and became all out obsessed with all things Anne of Green Gables. I FINALLY bought that plane ticket to celebrate my 40th birthday on the island.

And that’s not going to happen.

I was invited to speak at an End Well conference in L.A. this fall.
That’s probably off.

So, grieving. Yes. All the while recognizing DAILY how fortunate we are to be healthy, fed, clothed, and alive right now. It’s such a jumble of emotions that at the end of the day I just feel TIRED. That’s the best explanation I have.

Most of my summer weddings have rescheduled. Their plans held in a sort of stasis. Guest lists getting slashed. Everything being pared down to the absolute essentials.

My Class of 2020 Seniors didn’t really have a senior year experience to speak of. No prom. No graduation ceremony. I can’t imagine what that must feel like. You work your whole childhood towards that moment of freedom and accomplishment…..only to have it ripped away. It makes my heart sad. I love being a part of celebrating senior accomplishments.

I, like everyone I suppose, am just OVER this. Over it.

But, I don’t necessarily want the “before” back exactly the way it was…well…before.
I want to LEARN something from this.
I want to be better from it.

Here at home we are making some decisions that could radically affect the next two years and then the next 50 (more on that later as things evolve….how is THAT for vague-blogging?! Guess you’ll have to just keep reading……HA!)

Here at home we are working on potty training for Bridget, navigating at-home-schooling (not a fan, gotta say)….trying not to kill each other.

I never realized how LOUD everyone was when they ate. My god.

I haven’t written A THING…..I can’t. My brain is broken, it seems. Part of the Covid effect on my mood.

THANKFULLY, my husband is still working full time from home. I am putting in part time check-in’s here and there with my job in Oregon…..and restrictions on shooting are loosening a bit so Type A should be back in full force soon (here’s hopin!). We are okay. I know other people are not okay, so it makes my mixed jumble of feelings every day worse. A sort of “survivors guilt”, somewhat. I know lots of people that this is devastating financially. And it seems no help is on the way. I sit with that and that’s when the anger comes. It shouldn’t be like this.

and I miss a lot……

I miss shooting so much.
I miss visiting people.
I miss going into a store and shopping without having an all out panic attack
I miss knowing what day of the week it was and having a SCHEDULE
I miss stores having Cherry 7Up in stock (who knew that would be something to become scarce. Like, WTF universe?!)
I miss looking forward to things

But, I do also believe that soon this will be in the past. We will emerge from our fortresses, bleary eyed and having forgotten how to properly drive a car. We’ll walk around on our shaky baby legs, unsure of how to proceed.

But it’ll be in the past. Someday.

Someday, all of this will be a story. And that’s what keeps me getting up every day.

Fractured Thoughts ~ COVID-19 Lockdown Edition

Well, I’m sure I’m not the ONLY one out there whose thoughts are sufficiently fractured these days, eh? I mean….Jesus. What a week.

Over here in the Reseburg household we are hunkering down (the word “hunker” is having a moment right now). With Molly being high risk, we can’t take the chance of exposing her to anything. So, the husband and I…the three girls….the two dogs….a partridge in a pear tree….are all cohabitating 24/7 for better or for worse.

We are all finding our own ways to cope, at this point. Molly and Bridget have rediscovered their love of The Greatest Showman soundtrack. Betty is drawing away. Jon is pretty much single-handedly keeping his work afloat as their resident Zoom and Yuja expert. I am working Type A and my day job at the same time, editing my last wedding…wondering if wedding season will even HAPPEN this year (I am hopeful….I am).

We cancelled our upcoming Disney vacation. I’m likely going to cancel my much anticipated Canada vacation that I was going to take for my 40th birthday. I had been dreaming of that vacation since I was 8 years old. I finally scheduled it after hemming and hawing for years…..and this happens. Its like an Alanis Morrisette song.

But, I’ll get there. It just may not be when I expected to go.

I’m trying my hardest not to let social media and the news rile me up….but with little else to do….it’s getting to me. I admit it. I can’t watch the news anymore. It’s too upsetting. Social media isn’t far behind. I’ve always had a “love/hate” relationship with certain social media platforms. Being in business for myself in this day and age, I have to use it or lose it honestly. But, there seems to be an endless amount of idiocy and tone deafness going on as of late and I can literally feel my blood pressure rise whenever I log on. So….maybe unplugging for awhile wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Anyone else feeling that?

We’ve been playing some games with the girls (Pictionary namely….the husband wants to try Cannasta. Because we are pensioners now, apparently). I’ve been (unsuccessfully) trying to get a Twitter campaign started to get Disney to release the Hamilton Movie early.

Everyone tells me this is a time to slow down. To be intentional. To plan. To rest. But, with all the uncertainty out there? With everything bad amongst the little that is good, I’m struggling. I struggle with the fear of the irresponsible actions of others affecting the health of my vulnerable child. I struggle being in an industry that is not a necessity right now….but still needing to make a living, pay my bills, and support my family. I struggle knowing we are so fortunate in so many ways but there are so many out there who are not. Worrying about that keeps me up at night, because I feel helpless.

So if you’re struggling too? If you wake up feeling a mixture of fear, weariness, grief, and worry? You’re not alone in that. Not by a long shot. Everything is terrible right now. It’s okay to just say that and acknowledge it.

On the Type A front, I’m making plans to bounce up whenever this has passed and people start to need services again. I’ve kept the Spring Forward Sale up so if people WANT to reserve a 50% off session for portraits or seniors, they can. It’ll never expire. If you wish to do that, you can check out the options in the STORE. But know that I completely understand that the services provided by Type A are a luxury, not a necessity. Just know that Type A will be here when the smoke clears. This thing ain’t taking me down. Self-employed folks are a resilient bunch.

Enjoy some candids of the kiddos….looking all scrubby and waiting on a Zoom call from the grandparents.

We are in the midst of history making days here. Take pictures. Write it down.