Today is school picture day.  When I was a kid my mother took great pains to insure I was well dressed.  Even more so on school picture day.

There are rare occasions when having a mother who saves EVERYTHING.  This is not one of them. I distinctly remember the kindergarten picture (second from left).  She was mad that I put my lips over my teeth, but years later she’d tell it as a funny story.

Who let me leave my glasses on? Gotta love aviator frames! I remember being very proud of myself in fourth grade (second from the left).  I brought lip gloss and right before the picture, I decided to feather my bangs to the left.  I remember telling my mother of my success with a big grin.  She was not happy, but when the pictures came back, she acknowledged, I had done well. Fifth grade (second from right) needed a do over because when we got the photos back, it looked like I was winking (damn light sensitivity). Gotta love the puca shells in sixth grade (far right).

I HATED middle school and these first two photos show why.  I was a complete and total dork.  I still am, the difference is that now, I flaunt my dorkiness, then I denied it. By the time high school rolled around, I was starting to gain some footing.

Next to fourth grade, this is probably my favorite school picture.  By tenth grade, I had a circle of friends and felt like I belonged somewhere.  I don’t know why, but I wasn’t able to find a photo from my junior year.  I don’t even remember a photo being taken, yet, there must be one.  That’s ok, the drama just sets the stage for *drum roll* SENIOR PORTRAITS.

Dun dun dun!

It would be ten years before I found out that neutral brown tones did more to accent my eyes than blue tones.

Let me be clear that I am poking fun at myself more than the photographers.  I don’t envy them their job. Also, people with albinism are hard to photograph between the nystagmus (wiggly eyes) and photophobia (sensitivity to bright light and glare).