Over the Memorial Day weekend, I got to catch up with some family friends, the Harrigles, and see how their recently-adopted daughter, Sophie, had grown.

Sophie is a full-blown toddler now, walking and smiling and playing and babbling away happily. Last I saw her she was probably around six months old.

I photographed little Sophie Harrigle with her mother and father as a part of my series, Women with Icons. Early on in my project, I discovered (with the help of my husband) that it didn't seem appropriate to photograph very young children without the presence of their mother, or even both parents. Pictures of children who are far too young to even venerate icons or imagine that icons depict real people don't seem to hold gravity, or don't seem "fair" to the idea itself.

This is especially true for Little Sophie, who is too young to know how precious she is to her parents. Fr. Gregory and Jeanne found each other late in life, and were determined to adopt. After much difficulty, they were able to travel to Lebanon and bring Sophie home.

"Sophie, of course, means 'wisdom,'" said her mother, Jeanne. "We picked the name together, and it means a great deal to us. Saint Sophia was the mother of three daughters, named Faith, Hope, and Charity. It took a lot of those three things to get Sophie here to us so we could take care of her. We had to have a great deal of faith and hope, and we had to on the charity of others. And finally God brought this blessing into our lives."

The icon in this case becomes a symbol of the this new family. Wisdom, faith, hope, love, and charity helped to bring them together. Not to mention how the faith itself binds them together in a spiritual sense. Sophie and her icon are the center of meaning. I'd like to think this photograph records a moment of thanksgiving.