d family ~ a lifetime married

A month ago, my grandmother unexpectedly passed away. My mom wrote a beautiful post about her mom… and the photos that we cherish more than ever. I had done a grandparent session for my grandparents a month before her death and we were all so grateful to have those photos. One of my best friends from high school reached out to me after reading my mom’s post and asked if I would do a session for her own grandparents. Her grandmother was turning 90 this fall and her grandparents were also celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary this year. She wanted to gift them this session and these photos. I can’t even tell you how much this meant to me— that a) someone else was realizing the importance of capturing photos like these of older relatives and b) she chose me to be the one to do it.

I LOVE these grandparent sessions. In the case of this couple, they were still so cute together— still giving each other a hard time but also just so sweet as they held hands and walked around the park. At one point, I knew I wanted to have them dance together, so I asked what their wedding song was. I thought it would be special to play that song for them while they were dancing.

They couldn’t remember it!

The grandmother said to me, “After 70 years, you don’t remember all of the little things like that.” The funny thing is that she was sharp as a tack and answered right away when I asked how many grandchildren and great grandchildren she had. It just goes to show you which things end up being the small things and which end up being the big ones.

Personally, I feel like these sessions themselves are the gift for the couple and the photos that come out of the sessions are a gift for the couple’s family. My friend said that after the session, her grandparents couldn’t stop talking about how much fun they had. And as she was walking me to my car that day, she said that she doesn’t remember the last time she saw her grandparents like that. I remember thinking the same thing after I did the session for my own grandparents. They loved getting dressed up and they were so carefree and sweet together. You could see the love that drew them together decades ago.

So, thank YOU to everyone who books a grandparent session with me. I love photographing life in all of its stages, but there is something just so special about these particular sessions and the opportunity to witness the wisdom and mature love that comes with age.