Portrait #25: Ian
He loves physics and raw asparagus. Or at least Ian did when I met him in 2012. I expect he still does.
A year later I saw Ian again, at his family’s rural acreage south of Worthington. I remember how my friend Gretchen welcomed us with such enthusiasm, noting that she was thrilled to have dinner guests. My husband and I were happy to spend an evening with my blogger friend, her husband and their three children. They are a delight.
Ian and his sisters toured us through the family’s 10-acre wooded and hilly creek-side property while their parents prepared dinner. Dad at the grill, Mom mixing salads. The kids clearly love their oasis in the middle of southwestern Minnesota’s prairie farmland.
These are a talented group of siblings—into theatre and music and more—and just great kids who are friendly and kind and polite.
As the evening ended and we prepared to leave, Gretchen and I simply had to have photos. I commanded a snapshot of myself standing with the sisters in the middle of the gravel road running past this family’s home. That put me with one foot in Minnesota and one foot in Iowa. Yes, they live on the border.
Ian wasn’t game for that shot, but the then 14-year-old did pose with the family cat, Zephyr. The lighting was perfect as was Ian’s pose. There’s something about this image that is sweet and timeless, that speaks to appreciating the moments of life, to simpler times, to the unencumbered spirit of youth. I expect, I mean know, that Ian is growing into a fine young man.
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This is part of a series, Minnesota Faces, featured every Friday on Minnesota Prairie Roots
© Copyright 2015 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
