Victoria Baldwin and Adam Dyson have been divorced since 2015, but they have kept one family tradition alive. The former couple has an annual family photo shoot with their son, 4-year-old Bruce Baldwin, People magazine reported.
Baldwin and Dyson were married for three years. Baldwin is a professional photographer who is in the military and lives in Alaska. Dyson lives in South Carolina. Each year, the family reunites for a series of photos.
Baldwin, whose parents are also divorced, told People that she wanted to continue the annual family photo shoot because she has no childhood photos of herself with both of her parents.
“I have always valued photos because I never had more than two or three of myself as a kid,” she said. “I thought it was important for Bruce to see the photos of him with both of his parents, and I certainly didn’t want to throw the [previous] photos away after divorce — that just seemed silly.”
Baldwin said her son has all four family photos displayed in his room.
“Bruce loves when Mom and Dad are together, because he gets to talk to both of us at the same time and tell us about his day and show us the new things he can do,” Baldwin told People.
Divorce can be a stressful time for a child, particularly if both parents are not getting along. But Baldwin told People that divorce is “about you and your spouse.”
“While you are divorcing the parent, you are not divorcing the child,” she said. “Make an effort to include [your ex] — it may sting you, it may make you cringe because you have hurt feelings or anger or sadness — but your child will thrive because of it.
“Your child needs two parents who love them, not necessarily parents who love each other. …Bruce didn’t ask for the divorce, we did. So we need to sacrifice to make sure he doesn’t have to.”
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