It is with great pleasure Sweet Nectar Society introduces one of our newest affiliate photographers, Victor!

“As I get older I have learned that life is not a straight line. Yes that sounds obvious and maybe a bit cliché but it holds new meaning when you figure these things out for yourself. What defines success? What defines normal? In the naïveté of youth, I believe we answer these questions in the form of material things or maybe popularity. Maybe that is the definition at that time. Maybe it changes throughout the different stages of our lives. Nonetheless when Fox was born it was redefined for me.

Fox was born with Down Syndrome.  I cannot say enough great things about the team at Clovis Community that was there for us when Fox was born. One of the things that struck me when Fox was days old was the geneticist telling us that it was OK to be upset, it was OK to grieve, but that we would realize that we were only grieving about our lost expectations and not the baby before us. I have to say that intellectually I understood that but accepting it took a little longer.

One of the most surprising things to me is how little this has actually mattered to us. Months earlier, during pregnancy, I had a discussion about how difficult it must be to raise a child with Down Syndrome not knowing the road ahead. Now, living in my new reality, it hasn’t mattered greatly. He’s a baby. He will experience the world just as we do although maybe through a different lens. Again, what defines normal? We all begin and end our journey the same way and that is a normalcy of its own.

Now, with that being said, way before Fox and around the time I graduated college I picked up photography. The idea of capturing life as I experienced it was fascinating and buying cool gadgets made it that much more enjoyable. With the idea of capturing life in mind I have carried my camera from the top of Mount Whitney, to the bottom of Death Valley. I have always enjoyed sharing my experiences with others and since Fox was born his is the life I have been sharing. Through Sweet Nectar Society I want to share this hobby of mine with others and capture a snippet of each family’s life in a way that they can share it with the world.” – Victor Gonzalez

We are lucky to have Victor, Rebekah and Fox join our Sweet family, please join SNS in making them feel welcome!