Past & Future Tar Heels {Chapel Hill Family Photographer}

This post is bittersweet for me to write up… the R Family is one near and dear to my heart.  Not only are they probably my most loyal clients (this was their third session this year) but they are great friends.  This session kinda broke me up as I was shooting, more so as I was editing, and now that they’re gone, even more as I recap for the blog.  When I moved to North Carolina three years ago, Mary was one of the first friends I made at the local library.  She immediately brought me into a group of girls she was rounding up that would ultimately become a life-line for all of us over the course of the next several years.  We’ve been meeting weekly ever since for a regular playgroup, meeting any other day of the week for random play dates at parks, malls, farm-days, story times, you name it… and we get out at night without our children when we can.  Mary has no clue how she was the glue that pulled us together or the role she played for us all.  She broke our hearts when she broke the news her family was moving back home to Wisconsin.  And she left just a week ago… I tear up writing this, as I have numerous times since saying good-bye to her last Sunday.  Her girls have a special place in my heart… and I’ll miss them all terribly.  Here are some shots from their farewell shoot on the campus (and football field) at UNC in Chapel Hill, where they met 9 years ago.

I have loved watching your girls grow and look forward to watching them turn into incredible women from a distance.  While it breaks my heart that we won’t be able to raise our families together anymore, I know the future holds amazing blessings for you all.  You will always have a special place in my heart forever….

xoxo.