--------------------------------------------photo by Elaine A. Russell

So -- let me tell you about my daughter. She is fabulous. She is one of those unique people who has always known what she wants to do with her life. While most of us struggle with what we should or should not do... or what we can do as set up by our own self imposed limits.. or even limits put onto us by others... she has had this direct, matter-of-fact knowledge of herself. Not to say she is conceited. Far from it. She just knows what she is meant to do. She is an artist.

She has been working with me in the jewelry making business since she was in kindergarten, and selling her own work since she was 12. At 14 she decided she wanted to try her hand at photography, and by 16 she was in a gallery. She will be 17 in a few months.... and who knows where all she'll go and what all she'll do. But I do know that she will do it with creativity, compassion and love.