Jessica + Luca ~ Portraits

There are a thousand thoughts racing through my head as I sit here trying to figure out where to start on this blog post. Scratch that, a million thoughts. I’ve actually started and stopped writing this paragraph several times. This is an extremely special and personal post and I think if I let myself, it could be a few pages long (but I’ll try to keep it to the point) Below you will find images of Jessica (my older sister) and my brother-in-law Luca. We’ve been talking about doing a couples portrait shoot since I think the first time I picked up a camera. Jessica has been one of my biggest fans and has rejoiced with me during all the exciting life moments and lifted me up during difficult times. She has been by my side through this entire journey and I’m so glad we are finally in the same city. Especially since recent events, I know I was meant to live minutes away from her door step. Over the past month, it’s been hard to navigate how to best be there for my extremely brave and positive older sister. I hope I was able to bring some resemblance of “normal” into the past not-so-normal few weeks. Be it holding her hand through the MRI, seeing The Hunger Games in IMAX during a workday afternoon, or going on antiquing adventures together at 8am. It was around a month ago she found out that she has a cerebral occipital AVM. To make a very long medical explanation short, she has extra arteries tangled up behind one of her eyes that is causing a build up of pressure and blood. If left, it would ultimately (at any moment) cause an aneurism. Scary scary stuff. She woke up one morning with extremely blurred vision — at first she thought it must be a sinus infection and wrote it off. After a few doctors visits and then eye doctor appointments, hospital visits, and test after test…. she found her diagnosis. It’s been a whirlwind few weeks and I cannot believe her surgery is in a few days. Jessica will be undergoing brain surgery. BRAIN surgery (sometimes it doesn’t seem real you know?) A “two-part” brain surgery that basically spans from Tuesday through Thursday of next week. Brave does not even begin to describe my sister. There are just no words. She has found comfort in the strength and immensity of God and the multitude of friends and family that have been praying for her (thanks ya’ll). You should read her ongoing blog where she has been reflecting and writing about everything that has been happening. Last week, after she found out more details about the surgery and long process of recovery, she asked if I could do a photoshoot of She and Luca. The next day. Again, there are no words (i’ve literally been speechless) to describe how honored I feel to be able to capture them (and their beautiful love) in this moment. They have so much going on in their lives — I wouldn’t even know where to begin. The love they have for one another has been the greatest example of strength, commitment, and pure love for my own relationship with my husband. Real love. Love in the most pure, honest, and passionate way. Love in this sense is never easy, I mean of course not, your heart and soul is entirely out in the open. But it’s beautiful, and it explodes like fireworks – and you can FEEL it, just by being in the room with them. It’s a gift. Through all this crazy, Jess and I have been talking about how much more we have learned to appreciate the little things and how things that seemed SO big before, don’t seem that important. We’ve talked about taking risks, loving more deeply, and living fully. Appreciating “the normal”. Some of these images are my favorite I’ve ever taken. They speak of love without words and they show the sparkle these two share with one another. Please keep Jessica & Luca in your thoughts and prayers throughout the coming weeks. And sister? we’ll get through this, hand-in-hand. I love you.

 

One of my favs (below)

Another fav (below)