Lew-Lew’s time with her people ended a few weeks ago, and I know they are missing her so much. This post is in tribute to her amazing life that spanned 19 years and across the country. Lew-Lew’s mom contacted me … Continue reading
If you’ve talked to me, you have probably heard at least one story about my little men, my first babies. Jake, my only puppy ever, and how he was my heart, or Faux (pronounced “Fox” – we were really into “The X-Files” and I thought it was a good joke since he was a hound and not at all a fox to spell it “Faux” – not so funny when you are waiting at the vet and they call, “Fo….Fo…”), and all his crazy Beagle antics. Although he was 10 when we adopted him from the Cowlitz County Humane Society (“Tired old boy, needs a place to live out his twilight years…yeah, right! He was a wild man, and rocked our world for the next 8 years), and had been scraped up off the highway after tangling with a car, we still had all sorts of puppy behavior to work out. These two got me through…well, they got me through. They hung in there for me waaaay past what was reasonable, and it was still agony to lose them (in 2006, but I’m still tearing up). I wish I had decent photographs of them, but one thing we always did was a “family Christmas card” – oh, my husband is a good sport! Yesterday my mom and Sandee stopped by – having recently moved, my mom often brings me “treasure” – and in the stack was a holiday card from around 2000 – my BOYS! This image is scanned off the old card – I have the photos somewhere…but what a find!
Eklund Family, 2000
So for sure I should be working on my sales taxes/website/organization/laundry today, but I HAPPENED to have the opportunity to photograph a beautiful girl, and am so pleased to introduce Bear! Bear goes into the backstory a bit – she was rescued by Larry and Michelle Ransom, and their boys Jake & Jordan when she was just a pup, found by the side of the road with her momma, when Larry was coaching at Pilchuk Veterinary Hospital. The year I started by business Bear was the 3rd spoke in a pretty tight pack – Jake and his girls, Bear and Jessie, a gorgeous yellow lab. Jake is a pretty phenomenal kid, and happens to be my nephew. It was my plan to do a shoot with the three of them – so adorable. Sweet Jessie, however, was discovered to have cancer and died suddenly at the age of 7, which was a terrible shock. Of course I felt terrible that I hadn’t yet taken the images I could (and still can) so clearly see in my head. Regrets are the worst! This went down a matter of months after my niece, Rachel had lost her beautiful 2 year old pup. The two events in 2 connected families so close together really solidified for me the desire to photograph pets with the people who love them, to record and tell their stories visually, and honor their place in our lives. We all know we have such a short time with our four footed companions, but the truth is, we really don’t know how short that time can be. My own dogs prior to the current furry little monster lived to 19, 18 and 14 1/2 years, but I can tell you, it didn’t seem long enough. So the chance to snap a few of Bear today, who is young and healthy and a sweet, darling soul, lifted my spirits. She rocked her shoot – isn’t she delish?
Four Foot Photography 