Love In The First Person (111 images)

It is a cold day in January when I meet my girlfriend Melissa in the concrete stairwell of the dormitory where she lives at Ohio University. Tears run down her cheeks as she leads me by the hand into her room and after closing the door, holds out an innocuous looking plastic strip. Thinking back, I don't remember any ambiguous colors or lines, just that it said the word "pregnant." We both drop to the floor, laughing and crying simultaneously. The weight of the news begins to sink...
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It is a cold day in January when I meet my girlfriend Melissa in the concrete stairwell of the dormitory where she lives at Ohio University. Tears run down her cheeks as she leads me by the hand into her room and after closing the door, holds out an innocuous looking plastic strip. Thinking back, I don't remember any ambiguous colors or lines, just that it said the word "pregnant." We both drop to the floor, laughing and crying simultaneously. The weight of the news begins to sink in for both of us as she covers her face with her hands, looking like a scared child. I feel like one. A camera dangles from my shoulder and I raise it without thinking, instinctively wanting to remember this moment, though I have no idea how any of it will pan out. I am 20, she 19 years old.

These photographs are of the next phase of our relationship; parenthood, and our daughter Madelyn, who has changed and improved our lives in the short time she has been with us.
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