{"id":2848,"date":"2015-03-10T03:20:53","date_gmt":"2015-03-10T10:20:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/?p=2848"},"modified":"2015-03-10T03:21:34","modified_gmt":"2015-03-10T10:21:34","slug":"her-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/?p=2848","title":{"rendered":"Her gift…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"11\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My friend, Jen had a new granddaughter last week and I was so eager to get photos for her. \u00a0I didn’t want to nag her, “Hurry…they are only this tiny for a short amount of time.” \u00a0so I waited. \u00a0I texted her on Friday to find out what was going on. Their new grand daughter had spent her 1 week birthday in the NICU. That is when she told me that she had a metabolic genetic condition and they would have to remove her from life support. \u00a0My heart was broken for Jen, her daughter and her new husband. \u00a0For months I had followed the journey of getting married and her pregnancy. \u00a0The absolute love and joy of watching her daughter go through all these beautiful things made me so happy to be her friend. \u00a0She’s the example of how much a mother should love her daughter.
\nOn Sunday they called to see if I could capture some pictures for them. \u00a0Without hesitation I said yes. \u00a0Afterward I thought back to a foundation that provides this kind of service for the hospitals and I looked it up. \u00a0It would be hard to do this, but this was for a friend and I was the one they trusted to do this. \u00a0I could do this. I could be professional and hold it together. So I thought.
\nI was doing alright until I saw Jen’s husband. \u00a0This man played hockey with my exboyfriend so I know him from that part of his life. \u00a0He was always the guy with a smile and a hug. \u00a0Strong and sweet. \u00a0This day he was quiet and blank. \u00a0I wrapped my arms around him and my heart broke again.
\nWe all know that the woman is the strong one in the relationship, but what makes her strong is that love of her husband. \u00a0I knew my day was going to be much harder than I had expected.<\/p>\n

This was uncharted territory for me. I shoot weddings. \u00a0I see people on what they think is the best day of their lives. I chase crazy brides and i’m the time keeper. \u00a0I know where to be, where to stand, what direction to give. \u00a0My eye catches the tags in a dress, stray hairs and distracting back grounds. I capture the first moments of a life time together. \u00a0Today I was capturing the last.<\/p>\n

I began getting shots of baby Clara as she was still on the breathing tubes and then waited until they removed all of them. I soon realized that this was going to be a candid photo shoot. \u00a0My time there would be spent capturing this time for them.<\/p>\n

For two hours I watched the most beautiful show of support and love I have ever witnessed in my entire life. \u00a0Both parents surrounded by their parents. \u00a0The way people move and touch during a time of sadness is so profound. \u00a0People reach for a hand to hold and an shoulder to sink into. \u00a0Others reach out and touch. Small movements in the exact moments that they are needed.
\nI watched Jen’s husband gently reach out to support his wife as she had her head on her daughter’s shoulder. \u00a0Was it to comfort her or to give him support? \u00a0I don’t know, but I cried watching this happen over and over with 3 different husbands and wives. \u00a0 I observed the way they could all just look at each other and speak without speaking. \u00a0They were all in different places of pain, yet they all could be strong for each other. \u00a0Even just writing this makes me cry. \u00a0 Yes, it was horribly sad and yet the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. This little girl has no idea the world she changed in the small amount of time she was here.
\nShe made a strong family stronger and they will set the world on fire with a foundation to bring awareness to this genetic disease so no other family has to go through this.<\/p>\n

There was no question as to why I was with my ex for the time we were together. \u00a0After a break up most people will say, “WHY!!?? Why was this person in my life?!” \u00a0I am grateful for that time because it brought me to the exact moment I was on Sunday. \u00a0Without having known him, I wouldn’t have been where I was to provide the only gift I have in this world; photography.<\/p>\n

I will keep you posted on the foundation as it starts its journey into this crazy world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    My friend, Jen had a new granddaughter last week and I was so eager to get photos for her. \u00a0I didn’t want to nag her, “Hurry…they are only this tiny for a short amount of time.” \u00a0so I waited. \u00a0I texted her on Friday to find out what was going on. Their new grand daughter had spent her 1 week birthday in the NICU. That is when she told me that she had a metabolic genetic condition and they would have to remove her from life support. \u00a0My heart was broken for Jen, her daughter and her new husband. \u00a0For months I had followed the journey of getting married and her pregnancy. \u00a0The absolute love and joy of watching her daughter go through all these beautiful things made me so happy to be her friend. \u00a0She’s the example of how much a mother should love her daughter. On Sunday they called to see if I could capture some pictures for them. \u00a0Without hesitation I said yes. \u00a0Afterward I thought back to a foundation that provides this kind of service for the hospitals and I looked it up. \u00a0It would be hard to do this, but this was for a friend and I was the one they trusted to do this. \u00a0I could do this. I could be professional and hold it together. So I thought. I was doing alright until I saw Jen’s husband. \u00a0This man played hockey with my exboyfriend so I know him from that part of his life. \u00a0He was always the guy with a smile and a hug. \u00a0Strong and sweet. \u00a0This day he was quiet and blank. \u00a0I wrapped my arms around him and my heart broke again. We all know that the woman is the strong one in the relationship, but what makes her strong is that love of her husband. \u00a0I knew my day was going to be much harder than I had expected. This was uncharted territory for me. I shoot weddings. \u00a0I see people on what they think is the best day of their lives. I chase crazy brides and i’m the time keeper. \u00a0I know where to be, where to stand, what direction to give. \u00a0My eye catches the tags in a dress, stray hairs and distracting back grounds. I capture the first moments of a life time together. \u00a0Today I was capturing the last. I began getting shots of baby Clara as she was still on the breathing tubes and then waited until they removed all of them. I soon realized that this was going to be a candid photo shoot. \u00a0My time there would be spent capturing this time for them. For two hours I watched the most beautiful show of support and love I have ever witnessed in my entire life. \u00a0Both parents surrounded by their parents. \u00a0The way people move and touch during a time of sadness is so profound. \u00a0People reach for a hand to hold and an shoulder to sink into. \u00a0Others reach out and touch. Small movements in the exact moments that they are needed. I watched Jen’s husband gently reach out to support his wife as she had her head on her daughter’s shoulder. \u00a0Was it to comfort her or to give him support? \u00a0I don’t know, but I cried watching this happen over and over with 3 different husbands and wives. \u00a0 I observed the way they could all just look at each other and speak without speaking. \u00a0They were all in different places of pain, yet they all could be strong for each other. \u00a0Even just writing this makes me cry. \u00a0 Yes, it was horribly sad and yet the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. This little girl has no idea the world she changed in the small amount of time she was here. She made a strong family stronger and they will set the world on fire with a foundation to bring awareness to this genetic disease so no other family has to go through this. There was no question as to why I was with my ex for the time we were together. \u00a0After a break up most people will say, “WHY!!?? Why was this person in my life?!” \u00a0I am grateful for that time because it brought me to the exact moment I was on Sunday. \u00a0Without having known him, I wouldn’t have been where I was to provide the only gift I have in this world; photography. I will keep you posted on the foundation as it starts its journey into this crazy world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2848"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2851,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2848\/revisions\/2851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/randomandodd.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}