"Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same."
I photograph beautiful families all the time, each with their own unique memory in my mind... and then I continue on in my work, adding to the client list, filling new appointments and cherishing an image or two from each of those sessions as they become a piece in my portfolio.
However this spring, I had the opportunity to meet a beautiful family who did more than leave just a memory and who did more than add to my portfolio; they left a footprint on my heart and I will never, ever be the same.
Their beauty wasn't just that they were pretty to look at; their beauty ran far deeper than picture perfect smiles. They loved and laughed out loud that afternoon, and they played and showered each other with affection -- which would make ANY photographer's job easy! And the following day, the mother went in for treatment to fight the cancerous tumor that would eventually take her life.
I knew this when I arrived, and not knowing what to expect (and tearing up at least 4 times on the drive to their home), I was completely distracted from the issue because they were so enthusiastic, so happy, and so full of LIFE, that I couldn't possibly feel sorrow. And as I drove away that Sunday afternoon, I was angry at the world and its unfairness, that a family that in love with each other would have such an impossible battle on their hands. That was May 5th.
In July while on vacation with my own family, I received a call that Stephanie Johnson had passed away. I hung up and cried. I had only met this woman once. I had only played with her family for two hours. And yet, I was totally taken by emotion. My lab rushed prints to them for the memorial service, and I burned CDs and shipped them immediately... anything to help ease the heartache, to send love to that beautiful family.
I received countless thanks for those pictures... from friends and her family too, and I cried each time I received them. And then I realized... Photography is not just a job. It's not just an art. Even more grand, it has the ability to give memories and moments to people that will last forever.
Thank you Johnson family. I am so very thankful for your footprint.
This is Greg Johnson's tribute to Stephanie with photos from that day:
And here are a couple of my own favorites:
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