I first met Dee Dee and Tom when I photographed their daughter, Ashley’s, wedding in 2012!! Dee Dee contacted me a last month and shared some sad news that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and would love some photos of her and Tom. Of course I said yes, and cannot wait to show you their love and share their story! Anyone that has dealt with cancer, weather first hand or through a family member or friends struggles, knows what a roller coaster whirlwind of emotions it causes! You might remember when I shared my own mothers story, click HERE to read it. So my heart was hurting when I read the email from Dee, and I wanted their shoot to be perfect and special for them!! I asked her to share her story, after our session. When she started talking, Tom immediately grabbed her hand and supported her and watched her with loving eyes as she shared with me the journey from start until now. It is so apparent that Tom is her rock and strength in these scary difficult times!! I asked her to type up her story to share, so here it is <3
“Went to my annual mammogram in February 2015, no big deal. Until … 10 days and a few tests later we received the stunning news, hearing the words “you have cancer”. It felt like a Charlie Brown classroom scene “wah wah wah wah, you have cancer, wah wah wah wah, do you have any questions?” I simply couldn’t form a meaningful question at that point. Tom, ever the Marine, simply wanted to know “how do we fix it?” which was, of course, the question and ultimately the answer to that question, that would shape our lives over the next year. It has been a crazy ride over the past several months … surgery, sentinel lymph node biopsies, chemo, radiation and Herceptin treatments. We still have another 4 months of treatments to go before we are done but we are on the downhill side of it now. Friends and family have weathered this with us every step of the way, helping out with meals, transportation to and from treatments, companionship and understanding. Nothing quite like the diagnosis of cancer to make us re-evaluate our life. We’ve hunkered down this year of treatment with no other goals in mind except to evict this hijacker from my body. We’ve made a commitment to living our life to fullest each and every day.”
These are lovely portraits!
Thank you for sharing their story… Truly inspiring! What a beautiful relationship!
I’m so glad she wanted to share her story and so happy you were able to photograph them so beautifully! And that truck is awesome.
These two are just so sweet!! I love their love story and the way you Captured it!!