Still no baby, but pics I give you...

I could wax poetic about the beauty of motherhood but I'm crappy at poetry, so instead I'll offer a little personal history. Lily and I met at the DPC (Downtown Performance Center) when we were 16. The name "Downtown Performance Center" conjures an image of an elegant and eclectic old Tucson performance space, running down but still classy and filled with the history of southwest theater and culture.

Way off.

The DPC was an old warehouse on the crappy side of tracks that separated Downtown from not downtown. The stage was a series of boards and planks most likely salvaged (read stolen) from nearby buildings. It did however have all the amenities an all ages band venue requires. A ticket booth at the front door, clip lights on the ceiling, big fucking speakers and one bathroom. It also had a reading room. A small space with three moldy couches and a random collection of philosophy books and pulp novels. I can't say I ever actually got much reading done there, but I faked it a few times to make it look good. That particular night's ear splitter was a band called Star Crunch by the way.

The first night I spent there changed the course of my life. It's one of two occasions I can point to and say that a chance meeting, a specific person, altered the path of my life. And the new pattern that emerged drew a whole community of people into it, dragging across the country as we all settled one by one into New York life. Brooklyn to be specific.

A week or so after we met, I told Lily over the phone that my friendships tended to be temporary and run their course in six month cycles. True enough at that point in my life. She told me she had a feeling she'd be around for a while and I could hear the smile in her voice as she said it.

It's 16 years later and I just photographed one of my oldest and dearest friends days before she gives birth to her first child. We don't know yet if it will be a boy or a girl, and it will probably be a while before we really know this little person, but considering the I'm really looking forward to it.

Lily, Wade, I love you guys very much and I can't wait to meet your child.
A