10/02/2026
Victoria has been my friend for longer than she hasn’t.
Our first Facebook post together was in 2011. 2011. We were kids. So when she told me she was pregnant, I swear there was a split second where my brain went, “But we’re only 15?! We have to beat teen pregnancy!?”
Except…we’re not 15. We’re 28. Somewhere along the way, we actually grew up.
And when I think about growing up, so much of it has Victoria in it.
We have quite literally been in physical altercations. We’ve fought like sisters, been mad at each other like sisters, and said things to each other that only someone who knows you that well could say. But we’ve also loved each other like sisters. We’ve forgiven each other. We’ve cried together, laughed until we couldn’t breathe, celebrated together, and felt loss together. No matter what life has looked like or how much we’ve changed over the years, we have always found our way back to each other.
And now I get to watch my longest friend become a mom.
I cannot wait to meet you, sweet girl.
You have absolutely no idea how loved you already are. You’re going to be spoiled, admired, encouraged, and probably handed a book before you can even hold your own head up. I hope you get your mama’s confidence and, yes, even her stubbornness. I hope you grow up knowing exactly who you are, because you’ll have a strong, independent woman showing you how. And you’ll get to grow up watching your dad show you what it means to love someone deeply and completely.
I can’t wait to buy you books and take you to your first book release. I can’t wait for our first Red Dead Redemption run. I can’t wait to find out who you are and what you love, and to be there cheering you on through all of it.
Victoria, we aren’t kids anymore. Somehow, after all these years of growing up together, you’re bringing your own little girl into this chaotic world. And I already know she’s going to make it a little happier just by being here.
Thank you for trusting me with something so special and letting me give you the gift of photography—the first photographs of you with your little J. After all the years and all the versions of us that have existed, getting to document this version of you feels incredibly special.
From two teenage girls who had absolutely no idea where life would take them, to this.
I cannot wait to watch you become her mom.
All my love, all my support, and more excitement than I could ever fit into one post.
-Leslie Ann McClain-Jackson 🤍
