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8 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • October 2014 letter to readers PRODUCTION PUBLISHER Leigh Anne Van Doren Tabitha & Jamie Nelle's mom EDITOR-AT-LARGE Chris Jones Jordan, Quincy & Hayden's dad OPERATIONS & MARKETING Heidi DiEugenio, President, HD Solutions Duke & Dane's mom OFFICE MANAGER Nancy Massanat Emily & Kyle's Mom ADVERTISING SALES REPRESENTATIVES Sheila Giscard; Jack's mom Jodi Urquhart; Noah & Carly's mom DESIGN & PRODUCTION Cheryl Carter, President, Carter Creations Alex, Kate & Jackie's mom WEBMASTER Karen Charney Joshua & Spencer's mom CALENDAR EDITOR Leigha Pecher Jake & Luke's mom CIRCULATION Krista Starosta Nick, Andrew, Kaylin & Kensington's mom COMMUNITY BLOGS Mary Becelia Katherine Laura & Robert Joseph's mom FACEBOOK COMMUNITY Pamela Quinones: Corinn, Michael, Isabella & Dalton TWITTER & PINTEREST COMMUNITY MANAGER Brenda Sapanghila: Archer & Maddox's mom EVENT PLANNING & SCIENCE SATURDAYS Stephanie Maldonado; Julia, Tyler & Aiden's mom parent fredericksburg & family Entrepreneur of the Year PROUD FOUNDING MEMBER ADVERTISING PHONE 540/374-1495 E-MAIL adsales@fredericksburgparent.net CALENDAR & RESOURCE REQUESTS E-MAIL calendar@fredericksburgparent.net E-MAIL resources@fredericksburgparent.net EDITORIAL PHONE 540/374-1495 • FAX 540/374-1672 E-MAIL editor@fredericksburgparent.net publisher@fredericksburgparent.net SNAIL MAIL P.O. Box 7884, Fred'bg, VA 22404 www.fredericksburgparent.net The publishers reserve the right to reject any advertisement, editorial or listing that does not meet the publication's stan- dards. No part of this magazine may be reproduced with out permission. Listing and advertising rates are available upon request. Every effort has been made to assure the accuracy of the information contained herein, however, the publisher cannot guarantee such accuracy. Listings and advertisements are subject to typographical errors, ommissions and/or change without notice. For terms and condi- tions please visit our website at www.fredericksburgparent.net © Copyright 2014 Nurture, Inc. All rights reserved. A Picture is Worth M y youngest son just turned 16 the other day, and I spent a couple of hours that morning look- ing through old photos to create an album for him (well, really for me!) on Facebook. It was so sweet to go through 16 years worth of photos and remember all the things we'd done and places we'd lived. Then just last night I was deleting pictures off my iPhone to make room for iOS8, and there were dozens of pictures that I couldn't bring myself to delete: my boys sleeping on each other on the couch (at 15 and 16), our trip across country moving to Virginia, my tall dad kissing our even taller 17-year-old on his cheek, score- boards from lacrosse games… you get the picture *ahem.* We started doing college visits this summer, as one son will be leaving next summer and the other the summer after that. My heart hurts whenever I think of them leaving, but the vis- its were good for my soul. As I walked around the campuses listening to the students talk about what made their campus special, I could picture my boys being there, going to class, participating in sports, making friends. After those visits, I was excited for them more than I was sad for them to leave. I think that all of our parenting stages have been like this. As excited as we are for them to get older and start doing new things, we are sad that they don't do XYZ anymore. I remember our 2-year-olds saying the funniest things. (But then our teenagers say pretty funny things, too!) I just have to keep reminding myself that this is another parenting stage. Cycle of life and all that. But don't be surprised if you catch me swip- ing through old photos on my iPhone as I hang on to my memories. Karen Charney is FredParent's webmaster. She's also the proud mom of two really great teenage boys who won't let her get an Instagram lest she post all the pictures from her phone… BY KAREN CHARNEY 17-year-old with his grandfa- ther AND 16-year- old racing double- handed sailboats.