I am a wedding photographer and met Mary when she came to me for engagement photos. It wasn’t long after we planned her engagement session, that she wrote to me explaining her best friend (her mom) had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Mary wanted to incorporate her mom in the photos knowing that time is now precious and possibly limited with the ultimate goal being for her mom to make it to their wedding. I, of course, couldn’t get Mary and her family off my mind. I started praying daily for God to heal Lucy and to give their family strength and the ability to find peace in the midst of trouble + chaos.
Leading up to our session, Mary told me about her relationship with her mom. They are extremely close; each other’s clone! Before Lucy got sick, they loved running races together – 5k’s in their town together at first, then they started training for bigger races and traveled around for her to run marathons and her mom to run half marathons. Their favorite is the shamrock marathon in Virginia Beach. They love those trips! They love drinking coffee and wine. Every year for her birthday in June, they try and go to a lily farm and get a new lily for Lucy. The more she told me, I quickly learned that I couldn’t possibly do this session on my own. I needed God to help me document these amazing women and how much they mean to one another. I wanted them to know it was okay to be emotional and express any emotions they want to express during our time together and if there was anything they wanted to convey with the photos, that I would do my best to capture every minute. One thing they wanted to do is incorporate their dog, Jet. Jet started out as Mary’s dog, but stayed with her parents when she moved to North Carolina and he’s been glued to her mom ever since. He is one of their many links.
We started on the front porch with a cup of coffee, then strolled around their church where there is a labyrinth. I watched as they walked and talked, cried and laughed. I sat with them and talked about life, meditation, health and happiness. I couldn’t believe God had given me the opportunity to take these photos that their family would treasure for years to come. I knew there wouldn’t be a more perfect person to have my key of “Faith” other than Lucy. Dressed head to toe in teal, the color for ovarian cancer, here is Mary + Lucy.
-Kristin
