Robin McNeil is the creator and founder of Reflections of “Us” Greeting Cards. She is a University of Maryland alumnus, former Federal special-agent and now a wife and stay-at-home mom to her two little girls, Jessica and Kennedy. Years ago her brother-in-law gave her an old Nikon FG that he bought for $5.00 at a yard sale. She sent for the instruction booklet, loaded it with film, closed one eye and pressed the shutter button. The images you see are just as much of a surprise to her as they may be to you. With no formal training, it can only be explained that the eye of God looks through her lens and blesses her with the vision to capture our beauty.  Even today, with all the high tech and digital equipment available,  that old Nikon FG is the only camera she uses. 

The idea of Reflections of “Us" (ROU) was born when she went looking for her husband’s first father's day card. She simply wanted her little girl to see an image of a person that looked like her daddy on a greeting card. Somebody that resembled the man she wanted to honor that day. Robin never found that card she was seeking; but instead came home and handmade her husband a card with crayons and construction paper.
The first line read -

“Mommy and I searched for a card for you
But none of them said what I wanted them to
They all had some strange guy on the cover
   Who looked nothing like my daddy or my mother.”

ROU was created to glorify real-life images of African Americans- to mirror the images of the people we know and love. We sometimes want to see somebody who looks like our large broad-back daddy when we tell him "You're My Hero". We wish to see our sweet grandmother's face with her weathered features worn from so many years working in the sun.  Her eyes filled with hope, encouragement and wonder when we tell someone  "You can make it!"  We yearn to see our daughters' soft chocolate round faces with their full lips and broad noses smiling back at us when we wish them a " Happy Birthday".

It was created to satisfy a longing she had to see our daily stories of strong black men, beautiful brown women, sweet chocolate children, and faithful bronzed grandmothers when sending messages to those we love. Real people, real lives, a real me and you. She had to create ROU for her little girls so that they could see and embrace positive images of their culture. To know that it’s not only okay to be an African-American, but it’s “awesome” to be an African-American. To show them that our little girls walk in fields of flowers wearing sweet sun hats. Our little boys pull classic red wagons wearing timeless overalls. Our men hold their daughter's hands while walking in the park at dusk. Our women wear skirts swaying in the wind while standing in a field of wheat. Our mothers sit at lakeside park benches basking in a moment of tranquillity. Our children display moments of affection with sweet kisses, gentle embraces and toothy smiles that melt your heart .

She wanted "our" children to be proud of the reflection of their own image.