❤"Love Letter To My Mother"

Photo Shoot with Ms. Karen Custer Thurston....my beloved Mamacita!

by r.s.thurston photography

It’s hard to express how grateful I am to have my mother in my life. She has become more than that. We are sisters, best friends, travel partners and champions of each other’s passions and creative pursuits. I think it’s so much easier seeing the beauty in those we love than in ourselves. The same is true of my mother. She is radiant, stunning, strong, sensitive, supportive, creative, bright, kind, generous, funny (yes, you really are, Mama!), and overall fabulous. I don’t think she necessarily sees these things in herself all the time and I’m sure I struggle recognizing my own talents and assets. That’s what sisters are for, right? To point these out to each other all the time~

It’s been a dream photographing my mother over the years. She’s the one who gave me an artistic sense of composition. Who taught me to dance when I was only three…something which continues to be a passion of mine. She patiently taught me to sing when she thought all was lost and that I might actually be tone-deaf like my father. Turned out I wasn’t after all. To this day, singing with King Bee is a great joy in my life. She taught me that life is too short to not wear the fun, sparkly things! And she taught me to love and to support women in our journeys to a greater love for ourselves.

And she has always supported me in my artistic pursuits. She is my greatest champion. Period.

Over the years she’s learned to trust my eye and my vision when we shoot together. She’s even grown to trust me enough to change her make-up or earrings when I don’t think they’ll “jive” with an outfit.

She’s one of my favorite muses. The camera seems to drink her up like a cool glass of water on a hot summer day. She has a fierceness about her that’s cut by a deep vulnerability and innocence. And burning through it all is a bright light…her passion for life which I thankfully also inherited.

I love you, Mama.

The greatest gift from you this Christmas is to have you in my life. I’m so excited to spend the holidays with you~

Raquelita

★ Enjoy the Slideshow!