A dear client and friend of mine passed away this week from breast cancer and I’m just absolutly heartbroken for the loss of such a vibrant, loving and beautiful young mother of two. At the same time, my heart is also so inspired by all the love that has poured out of our community for her and what an outstanding person she was. She was so incredibly loved by all that knew her. (She did not know a stranger!)

I met Chelsa and Dan five years ago when their sister in law, Denise, gave them a gift card for my photography. I’m close with the Matilda Jane gang of ladies and so I got to see her from time to time and when she was diagnosed with cancer about a year and a half later, I invited her to the studio for some photos. The next year, when she was in remission, we had another session, full of celebration and joy for her new found health. Her sister is also a very talented photographer, so she was a very captured mother, which is an immense blessing to her family. I wish I could have photographed her more, but I cherish what I did get to do.

It’s hard to express what it was like to be in Chelsa’s presence. She was so bubbly, so full of life and made everybody feel loved. To photograph a family where all four of them were that loving and open, was truly a special thing to experience. They are my favorite photos I’ve ever taken and I would love to share them with you. I’ll start with the first session I took of Chelsa and Dan in 2009 and move to the last time I photographed them in 2012.

As you look at these photos, just know that this smile she shows, she shared so openly with everyone she met. She was always this real and beautiful, always this loving, affectionate, vibrant and warm.

I hope that someday, as her boys talk about Chelsa with people who never met her, that they pull out these photos and without words, they will tell the story of how loving their mother was.

I have no more words that can express all that I’m feeling in an eloquent way. I just wanted to share beautiful Chelsa and ask that you send prayers, love and peace to Dan and her boys.