If you’ve ever seen a comment on my blog, Instagram or Facebook from “Jean,” that’s my Granny. And you probably HAVE seen those comments, because she leaves one for every blog post I write. My Granny is one of my biggest cheerleaders!

Growing up, I was as close to my grandparents as most kids are- we saw them every Thanksgiving, most Christmases, and I spent a week down at their home in Roanoke during the summer for a few years running. It wasn’t until college that my grandparents went from simply being my Granny & Pawpaw, to also being my friends. I went to school about an hour away from them, and when dorm life got to be too much, I could retreat to their home in the mountains for the weekend. And Granny always sent me back with her famous brownies that all my fellow dorm-dwellers knew to expect.

They came to almost every band concert, they were there when I was crowned Homecoming Queen my junior year, and my Granny was the one to present me with my RU class ring. They even dropped everything to come down to Radford when my hard drive failed and I had a major panic attack over losing all my photos. They were also there last March for my first talk at the Creative At Heart conference- seeing how warmly they were welcomed and served by my friends Kat & Natalie was such a blessing.

People always say that if you ever want to figure out what someone values most, take a look at what they photograph. My grandparents would certainly be one of the top contenders- I love photographing them together whenever we’re down to visit. So when my Granny mentioned that it had been a while since we took photos of them together, I jumped at the opportunity to capture them again! Their love story is my favorite- if you’ve never read it, I wrote all about them here!

Granny & Pawpaw, I love you!