Whew.  I am going to try to get through this post without crying….but no guarantees.

Last year our church merged with another church from Lakewood and we got a whole new bunch of AMAZING people.  This family was part of this wonderful group.  I started noticing a comfy chair at the front of the church and a sweet, quiet man with white hair in that comfy chair week after week.  Turns out Michael had been dealing with cancer and was in a lot of pain and therefore needed a more comfortable chair to sit in at church.  A few months later I did a video about Michael for our “UNSTOPPABLE” sermon series and got to know him and his wife a little bit more.  He is so quiet and gentle but with a heart for God and others that is truly miraculous.  When Michael’s cancer turned terminal and they knew time was fleeting a few close friends contacted me about doing a family session for them.  I was touched and of course agreed.  We had to put off the session because of COVID but thankfully this summer we were able to make it happen.

Look at this beautiful family.  So full of love and joy despite a rough few years.

One of their daughters has a beautiful property up north and we did the session up there. It was perfect.

Not only was Michael going through cancer, but his grandson was as well.  Thankfully he is doing much better (he is the middle guy in the striped shirt)!

We couldn’t really move around very much as Michael was very limited in his mobility and he was often in a lot of pain so we wanted to make sure he was comfortable as much as possible.

I love doing big family sessions and capturing all of the relationships and individual personalities!  This is a truly happy bunch.

In October, Michael went to be with the Lord.  He is up in heaven with no more pain and he lived a life worth emulating.

I am so glad we were able to do these pictures and that I was able to capture the love of his family so they can treasure these for years.  Look at all of these faces!

Clearly he loved his kids.

And his grandkids.

Their love for each other was obvious in so many ways.

Thanks to all who contributed to make this possible and for the family for being flexible and making this photoshoot a priority.  Rest well Michael and Cindy K…..my thoughts and prayers are with you during this season of loss and grieving.

If you need some more pictures while you are wiping the tears from your eyes check out the Concilio extended family session or the Flowers extended family session.  You can also check out this video montage that his family put together.