Tamara Henion Photography

It was a fun afternoon trying to sway the “Big Brother” into photos with his beautiful Mommy. He did a great job and his mom, who I am looking forward to building a friendship with, was so excited to share this time with him.  I cannot wait to go back to their home very soon and meet the baby. Enjoy sharing our day!

RED!  A sea of red…all I could see was red.  Take a look. 

Go Red Richmond

American Heart Association Luncheon Part II

The short version of a long background goes something like this: When I was young, I was a little petite girl. I remember my mom dressing my brother (who was bigger than me) and I as twins a lot, even though he was 17 months younger than me. For pictures, I would stand on a chair to be as tall, or a bit taller, than him. As time went on, and puberty approached, it became obvious that something was wrong. Only, no one would know for a coupe decades  what it was that cause of such havoc  in my body. As if middle school years aren’t bad enough on their own,  (is there girl who isn’t a self-confident mess their around their 13th  and 14th birthdays?), mine was far worse than I can even allow myself to remember. Nothing went right. My friends adapted to changes in their bodies, and I just got fat. I mean, really fat. Instead of menses starting, obesity took over my body like a ravaging disease.  Not even 5ft tall, I was too short to carry extra weight, but that  was no deterrent as I seemed to go from 100lbs to over 170lbs over night. Even the doctors had no clue, and they sent me home saying I was ‘normal.’  No. Gaining 80lbs during puberty and not starting periods was not normal.

Ah, yes, the short version-I was in my 30s when finally diagnosed with PCOS. It’s an invisible disease, for the most part, but it’s far from invisible on the inside.  When I got the opportunity to shoot for The American Heart Association Go Red for Women, I knew I had to do it.  It’s an incredible and scary fact that 1 in 3 women will be affected with hear disease. The facts are clear. More women die of heart disease than all forms of cancer combined. Unfortunately, the killer isn’t as easy to see. Heart disease is often silent, hidden and misunderstood. 

1 in 3 women.  Do the math and that’s a tough spot for us all.

Furthermore, women with PCOS are SEVEN times more likely to have heart disease.  Admittedly, I haven’t done the new math and don’t know what 7x more than 1 in 3 is…but it’s not good.

So, today I supported AHA’s Go Red for Women. Here are a few of the photos. More to come with more details of this special day!

Go Red Richmond