A Bittersweet Goodbye

I have to warn you that this is such a sad but incredibly sweet story about a loving family’s pet, and their recent bittersweet goodbye. A fellow incredibly talented photography friend and I had plans to go shooting not too long ago, but we had to cancel them because his world was quickly turned upside down. One of his two furbabies slipped on the ice in their yard and broke her femur. When he and his wife took Luci (their 10 year old black and white Husky rescue puppy) to the vet, they unexpectedly discovered that their healthy little girl had cancer. Incredibly heartbreaking news. It was taking over her body, and weakening her bones. They were faced with one of the most difficult decisions that they’ve ever had to make. As any good parent would, they didn’t want to see their baby suffer. When he told me what happened, I offered to take photos of the four of them as a family right away. I wasn’t sure how he would feel about that, but I thought it wouldn’t hurt to offer. They had a couple days to say goodbye, and his wife decided that they wanted me to come and take photos of them. After ten years and MANY photos later, the four of them never had a photo taken together! They had planned on scheduling a portrait session in the spring, but time didn’t allow for that. If you happen to follow my blog or Instagram, you know how much I HATE cancer, and how much I LOVE Furbabies. I knew that it would be an incredibly hard session to photograph, but I thought it was incredibly important for them to have photos as a family. Their furbabies were beautiful, SO sweet and very curious about this new person in their home. After some sniffing, I was glad that they welcomed me with lots of kisses! We all held it together very well, but there was an unmentioned ache in everyone’s heart. Even Luci’s sister Apun knew something was going on. She was also a rescue puppy that joined their family very soon after Luci. As a puppy, she was snow white, so appropriately so, her name means ‘snow’ in Yupik. She was a sassy little gal, and she was being protective of her sister. She cracked us up with her cute little whiny noises! I can’t even explain how cute they were together. All four of them. Those furbabies were definitely loved, and it was VERY clear that they loved their mom and dad right back. We did the session in their living room so Luci was comfortable. I’m SO glad that we did, because we were able to take photos of them on THEIR favorite. Yes of course, a couch just for the girls! (I told you there were loved) Their neighbors call Luci and Apun the neighborhood watch dogs, because they sit up on the back of their couch and keep an eye on everything, out their big living room window. Seriously SO cute! It makes me smile thinking about the great stories they told about Luci, and knowing how much joy she brought to their hearts over the last ten years. I absolutely hate that they had to say goodbye to their baby girl, but I’m very honored to capture the last wonderful moments together.