Sometimes, after dinner, Maria kneels next to the dining room table and has a thought or something to say about what we are talking about, or an idea she just had.

She has often been thinking about our conversation in between rushing from a chore to chore, as she often does.

She needs to be busy until she suddenly stops and sits down, and reads.

She pauses, only her eyes peering down. Usually, there is a twinkle in her eyes, or a gleam, as she is aware that it’s a funny position to have a conversation.

She rarely stops laughing at life. There’s a gremlin inside of Maria.

There’s a little kid still very much alive in Maria, a child’s delight in new ideas, an artist’s a very keen sense of observation. She has a mischievous gene and likes to poke me or laugh at one of my many quirks.

These portraits have become important to me, a way of showing my love without having to say it all the time.

Sometimes there’s only one eye visible when she pops up like this, but I can tell she is smiling as she is in this photo. I’ve taken her portrait so many times she no longer seems to notice or care, as long as I don’t ask her to pose or expect her to.

She used to hate having her picture taken – her father did it obsessively and intrusively. The walls of her parent’s house were filled with hundreds of pictures of the family, each one posed – everyone was always smiling broadly.

I didn’t like to have my photo taken either, I thought I was too ugly, but over time, we have come to trust one another about something really, really hard for both of us to do.

That is the story of our relationship, really; we have both worked hard to open ourselves up to the other and others. It is something we work on often.

Relationships require lots of listening and thought. Our blogs have helped us in this way; we understand the value of sharing our lives and being authentic.

We can’t do that if we hide.

I don’t really like to ask her to pose; the best portraits are not posed, but natural,

I have to be lucky to get the right one. I like this one very much.  You can see from her one eye she is up to no good.

People like my portraits of Maria, often more than my other photos.

She has an expressive but peaceful face. And I always think the best portraits are those of people you like or love.